


The Survival Thief

by Skullszeyes



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Bad Driving, Blood and Injury, Car Chases, Conspiracy, Emotionally Repressed, Friends to Lovers, Gunshot Wounds, H2OVanoss - Freeform, H2oDelirious-centric, M/M, Minicat - Freeform, Missing in Action, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Robbery, Slow Romance, Violence, brohm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-09-01 01:33:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 34,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8601976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: "Tell me something, are you sure you're the hero of this story?"





	1. the sky is blue

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a one shot. Except I kept writing and writing, realizing that it wasn't at all. This story won't be switching POV'S, it'll be focused on Delirious.
> 
> (The Beatles - Because / remastered.) -- Music I was listening to while writing this chapter.  
> I hope you enjoy my story. :)

_It’s raining. Why the fuck is it raining?_ H2o Delirious sprinted down a dark alley, his clothes soaked through and the bag he’s holding with contents that are possibly now worthless is getting heavier by the second.

He sprinted underneath a bridge and over a fence, jumping over several homeless people huddling in a tent, a few were lying on the ground in sleeping bags. He grit his teeth and ducked under a clipped fence before turning to his right where he notices someone leaning against a wall with their phone in their hand.

“Ohmwrecker,” Delirious calls, waving his hand.

Ohm turned, mouth set in a frown, a white mask covered his face with a black painted in symbol layering the front. He wore a grey sweater and dark pants, his hood covered his brown hair with two drooping bunny ears clung to the side of his hood.

“Hey. You made it,” Ohm waved, he tucked his phone into his pocket. “Just finished briefing Bryce on our situation.”

“And?” Delirious asked, knowing that Vanoss is with Bryce on the other end of the city with his own cash of money and stolen jewelry.

“And we should’ve heard from Wildcat, he’s supposed to be here by now.”

“Did you call him?”

Ohmwrecker arched a brow, “I did, before texting Bryce. Wanted to make sure Wildcat went for them before they picked us up, but Bryce says Miniladd met up with them and is currently dropping them off with Lui and Nogla at the old grain factory. I heard from Moo and Basically several minutes before I arrived, they already finished with their mission.” He looked down at Delirious’s bag, “And I see you made your quota as well.”

Delirious sneered. “It’s going to be fucking useless if these guys don’t hurry up.”

All that mattered is that Vanoss was no longer in danger of getting caught by the cops. Now all he had to worry about was the rain and whoever was picking them up.

“I thought he was consistent.”

Ohmwrecker shrugged, taking out his phone and texting someone. “You and I both know Wildcat is not that consistent when it comes to being the driver on our heists. That’s why it’s either Nogla, Lui, Vanoss and Terroriser. Everyone else, including us, suck.”

“I wonder why,” Delirious murmurs as he leans against the wall.

“You’re a bad driver, Delirious.”

“Doesn’t excuse yourself.”

“Our jobs aren’t the getaway drivers.”

Delirious kept his mouth shut, knowing Ohmwrecker was right. Lui and Nogla were more qualified at driving than the rest of them, while Bryce was the sniper, Vanoss and himself were the frontmen, and Ohmwrecker was the backup, including the others, depends who’s on which job.

He slipped his mask off and wiped the slick rain from his face. “It’s cold,” he shuddered, setting the mask back in place.

“We should be getting picked up pretty soon,” said Ohm, reaching for a similar duffel bag and lifting it off the wet, muddy ground.

Several minutes later, a black sleek car rolled up on the curve. The window rolled down to reveal Wildcat driving and Marcel sitting in the passenger seat. “Get in, fuckers.”

Marcel grinned. “You two are late.”

Delirious rolled his eyes as he and Ohmwrecker slide into the back seats. He set the soaked bag down on the floor as Wildcat drove down the alley, turning left. He made several rushed turns.

Marcel passed Delirious a phone and said, “You’re supposed to report in to Lui and tell him why you’re late.”

Delirious frowned, taking the phone. “Wildcat was supposed to pick us up on the exact time, it’s not our fault we were late.”

“And why did they send you two to pick us up?” Ohmwrecker asked.

Wildcat glared into the rearview mirror. “From what you texted Bryce, you were five minutes late. Also, Marcel and I finished early. That’s why we’re picking you bastards up.”

Delirious scowled at Ohmwrecker who shrugged his shoulders, a smile slid on his face. “Sorry.”

Delirious shook his head and dialed Lui’s number. “Five minutes,” he mumbled, the way they work reminds him of getting in trouble as a kid and having to phone his parents to tell him why he was late getting home. Except the consequences of being late in this scenario is completely different than a scold.

Lui answered, except he was talking to someone else. “Get the crates on the other end and make sure the grenades are stashed properly. I don’t want this place getting blown up too early. Yeah… don’t just leave the automatic guns out and keep the—”

“Lui,” Delirious interrupts.

“Hold on—” The line went silent and Delirious leaned his head against the window, closing his eyes. “Are you still texting Bryce?” he asked Ohmwrecker.

"Yeah."

“Are you telling him we’re coming or are you updating him secretly that _we’re five minutes late_ ,” he says, gritting his teeth.

“Come on, I didn’t think he’d tell Lui.”

“He _is_ with him,” said Marcel, gripping the arm wrist as the car came to an abrupt stop at a red light. “Learn to fucking drive, Tyler.”

“Sorry, I thought I was going to make it, but I panicked.”

“This is why we didn’t want you two picking us up, we might as well drive to the police station and hand ourselves in for possible future DUI’s.” Ohmwrecker strapped his seat belt on.

“Better yet, the hospital,” Delirious said.

“Hello?” Vanoss’s voice made Delirious sit up, he received odd looks from Ohmwrecker, Marcel and Tyler.

“Evan… You-you’re okay.”

“Of course I’m okay. Are you?”

The light switched to green and Tyler didn’t waste any time driving fast down the street. The rain pelted the window and his clothes stuck to his skin, making him uncomfortable. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine. At least for now, if Tyler doesn’t kill us.”

Tyler stuck the middle finger at him.

Vanoss chuckled on the other end. “I would’ve came for you and Ohm. Except I have my own problems right now.”

Delirious frowned, “What problems?”

“Bryce and I were almost intercepted across the city by the cops, but we managed to get out, thanks to Wildcat and Mini being the decoys.”

Delirious tilted his chin up and glared at the back of Tyler’s head. “Why didn’t you tell me about Vanoss and Bryce, Wildcat?”

Ohmwrecker sat up, looking at both of them. “What? What happened to Vanoss and Bryce?”

“It doesn't matter, they’re at the factory with Lui and Nogla, it wasn’t really worth mentioning. Thanks Evan,” Tyler called, shaking his head, he sped up the car as he made a right turn toward the back streets.

Delirious straightened himself from being smooshed against the car door, he could hear Vanoss chuckling on the other end. “He’s right, Delirious. It doesn’t matter anymore. Tell Tyler not to go near any of the freeways, the cops are blocking them off.”

“Don’t go near the freeways,” he told Tyler.

“Duh,” Tyler said.

“We’re taking back streets, we should be there in a few minutes.”

“Okay. See you then.” Vanoss hung up.

Delirious passed the phone back to Marcel. They could hear the sirens loud and clear as they drove down several streets on the other side of the block. It made Delirious shudder with anticipation at how close these cops were, and how easily they were slipping by them.

“No offence, Delirious, but I’m surprised you got out with the cash and jewlery,” Marcel says.

Tyler laughed. “Same. Didn’t think you’d ever take a solo mission. Figured you’d get pinched right away at how clumsy you are.”

Delirious frowned and glanced at Ohmwrecker whom was still staring at his phone. “Ohm was on a solo mission.”

“He’s a lot more cautious than you are,” Tyler said, driving across the street.

Delirious spotted a lot of flashing blue and red lights several blocks down. “You mean more boring.”

“I didn’t set my alarm off, but from how late you were and the reason you were running,” Ohm placed his phone in his lap and smirked at Delirious, “I’m sure you set yours off.”

Delirious glared and turned back to look out the window. He was frantic with the thought of Vanoss on his own job, he wanted to get out quickly. He didn’t care how quick or messy he was, all that mattered was that he got out. He hoped the cops were busy dealing with the other two jewelry stores that were being robbed at a certain direct time. Lui and Vanoss planned out the entire schedule of who would hit what store.

The teams were laid out, two would go on a solo mission, while the other two groups would hit larger stores on the other end of the city. Easy. Tripping an alarm caused a catalyst none of them needed, except from the looks of it, he wasn’t the only one who managed to fuck up.

The getaway drivers would accompany either group and circle the streets and stop at the rendezvous point on the map that Lui drew out before they left. Anything to identify them were trashed right away. Vanoss didn’t want any loose ends, if someone got arrested, it was their own damn fault. Which was cold, but it was how they worked.

Of course, none of them would leave any of them to rot in jail. Cartoonz was hacking the stop lights and keeping a police radio close at hand back at the factory.

They made it across the other end of the city to a bridge that was close to a highway, but Tyler turned to his right again and they were on the same street as the factory. Delirious felt sick the entire drive, his nerves were getting to him and he wanted to pull his clothes off.

“I can’t wait to take a shower,” he murmured.

“Same,” Ohmwrecker said, leaning his head against the window.

“What’s going to happen now?” Delirious asked, looking down at the stolen money and jewelery, hoping none of it rusted. It just had to rain on the day they decided to rob a few stores.

“Lui and Nogla will smuggle it out of the city and we’ll have to go into hiding for a few weeks, possibly months,” Tyler said, sniffling.

“How much did you guys grab?” Ohm asked, looking down at his own bag of stolen goods.

“Enough,” Marcel said, turning in his seat. “Enough for Lui to quit hounding us, right? We get, what? Twenty five percent of this, so we shouldn’t be whining about the weather or the fucking delay.”

“Yet the delay is the only thing we care about,” Tyler said, hands squeezing on the steering wheel. “If he says we steal a fucking tanker next time, I’m quitting this life.”

“And do what?” Delirious asked, brow arched, he hadn’t seen Tyler so grim before, at least not like this. “Work for the government?”

Tyler laughed, “Yeah. That’s what I’ll fucking do. Use my robbery skills to catch you assholes in the act and then I’ll retire.”

Marcel chuckled, and Delirious couldn’t help but laugh as well. “You. Retire. I’d love to see that,” Marcel says as he sat back in his seat.

“Shit, you’ll be in jail with the rest of’em,” Tyler said, he drove in front of the factory and stopped. For a second, they all went silent before grabbing their bags and getting out.

Tyler, of course, had his own bag in the trunk with Marcel’s. Delirious headed for the front door and up the stairs. A ruckus was going on, several people walking back and forth in each room, boxes and crates were stacked in neat areas in the corners. He knew exactly what were in them, but on the sides were painted signs that read, _‘Sewing Machines’_ , _‘Fabrics’_ , _‘Typewriter’_.

Moo Snuckel and Terroriser were leaning against the door frame of one of the rooms where he could see Bryce lying on a cot. His head turned to the side with his shirt exposed.

Delirious stopped and his mouth parted, he wasn’t sure what to say or what he was seeing. But the second Ohmwrecker stood beside him and noticed what he was looking at. The bag he was holding dropped to the floor and he rushed into the room, past Moo and Terroriser.

“Is.. he?” Delirious wasn’t sure if he wanted to say it, his mind went blank right away.

Moo shook his head. “Vanoss and Bryce ran into some cops on the way back. Bryce was shot, they managed to get the bullet out of him and stitched him up. He just needs some rest, that’s all.”

Ohmwrecker was holding Bryce in his arms, whispering something into his neck. Delirious frowned, he caught Bryce’s eyes fluttering open, a weak smile spreading across his face.

Before he could say something, Vanoss appeared in the door to his left. He wasn’t injured from what he could see, but his hand was gripping a gun. “You should’ve said something.. I thought he..” Delirious’s attention went back to Bryce and Ohmwrecker.

Vanoss frowned. “I would’ve said he died on the phone, Delirious. I wouldn’t leave you or Ohm in suspense.”

He knew he was telling the truth, Vanoss wouldn’t do that, not to them in such a cruel way. Yet the weather hadn’t improved, nor his own mood.

Nogla appeared in the doorway, tall with dark hair. He smiled as he reached for Delirious’s bag. “Five minutes late.”

Delirious rolled his eyes. “It was only five minutes.”

“Yet you were late,” Marcel said from behind him, he and Wildcat walked past and into the same room where Vanoss and Nogla came out of.

“Where’s Cartoonz?” Delirious asked, knowing it wasn’t something Vanoss wanted to hear.

The smile slipped from his face, he raised his hand and pointed. “He’s been in the corner stacking books and hacking into the available cameras around the area since you left.”

Delirious nodded and said nothing else as he left Vanoss and went to search for Cartoonz. He tore his blue sweater off, his grey shirt underneath stuck to his skin. He looked over his shoulder, grinning at Vanoss who smiled back. He found Cartoonz surrounded by books, using a stack to hold up two laptops. He was currently writing in a notebook.

“Hey.”

Cartoonz looked up, his eyes were glazed over. “Shit. You’re alive.” Cartoonz pushed several books to the side, letting Delirious into the small book fortress he created.

“Yeah. Figured you’d be watching my ass.”

Cartoonz nodded slow, wiping his eyes. “Fuck. Yeah, I’ve been watching... Not your ass.”

“Pity.”

“Shut up.” He leaned closer to one of the computer screens before looking down at his notebook. “You set off the jewelry store on 45th street on the exact time you finished.”

“You’re keeping tabs on me.”

“I kept tabs on all of you. Fuck, my eyes hurt from staring at the screen. I had to get the times correctly and steer some of the lights to red just to get you fuckers on the right track. Some cops were reeling at the possibility of a hacker.”

“Someone fucked you over?” Delirious asked.

“Someone, another hacker, maybe, I don’t know.”

Delirious didn’t like it, he managed to convince Cartoonz to stop staring at the cameras for a bit. It wasn’t until they learned they weren’t allowed to leave the factory for the next several hours until the cops cooled down. Delirious didn’t mind that much, but it was pretty cold and there weren’t any blankets besides his wet sweater.

Cartoonz gave him his sweater and he slept against the wall with the books for comfort. The clicks of the keyboard and the rain lulled him to sleep until a large crackling sound jolted him awake. It was completely dark in the factory and there were several people yelling in the front.

Cartoonz was lying on the floor, curled up with his notebook. Delirious groaned, nudging his side. “Wake up. The power's out.”

“P-Pooweers out?” Cartoonz mumbled, slowly sitting up and groaning. “Fuck. It’s cold. Delirious, give me back my sweater.”

Delirious shrugged it off as he stood, dropping it on Cartoonz as he went to investigate why everything was still turned off.

“Get him up,” Moo said to Ohmwrecker who was lying beside Bryce on the cot.

“We can’t move him, he’s shot,” Ohmwrecker said, glaring at Moo.

Delirious walked in the room, noticing that Terroriser wasn’t there. “What the fuck? What’s going on?”

Moo raked his hand through his hair. “We’re compromised. Get Cartoonz and grab the car downstairs. We have to leave.”

“What do you mean _‘we’re compromised’_?” Delirious asked, he looked into the next room and to his confusion, it was completely empty. He felt a sinking feeling in his gut. It was still raining heavily outside, the street lights were on, but the city was darkened.

“Where the fuck is everyone?” Delirious asked, his hand gripping the doorframe.

“Gone,” Moo said, “they left two hours ago in two different groups. I got a message someone intercepted them. I’m not sure if they got caught, but we can’t stay here. We have to leave, there’s a car in the back. Get Cartoonz, he’s the better driver.”

Delirious gritted his teeth and ran back to Cartoonz who was trying to turn the laptop on.

“It won’t turn on.”

“It doesn’t matter, we have to leave.”

Cartoonz looked up. “What? Where?”

"We've been compromised. We have to grab the car in the back of the factory and get the hell out of here."

Cartoonz frowned, he closed the laptop and stood up with it tucked under his arm. “Who’s all here?”

“You, me, Moo, Ohm and Bryce.”

“They left us… what the fuck?” he asked, shaking his head and walking past Delirious as he headed down the steps. “Make sure we’re all out of here and grab some weapons. We don’t want to be unarmed.”

Delirious nodded and ran to the crates, he clenched his teeth and lifted the lid, shoving it to the side. He looked inside and found it empty inside. There weren't any weapons in these damn crates. "What the fuck is going on? There's nothing in here."

“What?” Moo ran to him while Ohmwrecker held Bryce in his arms. He looked into the crate, his breath coming out in pants, his eyes wide in shock as he shook his head. “No. What the hell? What the fuck? The workers. Damn it. We have to leave.”

“I thought Lui looked into people’s backgrounds, didn’t he organize everything?” Ohmwrecker asked.

“He does. He did.. I saw the weapons not too long ago. I have no idea why the equipment isn’t there, but it doesn’t matter,” Moo said frantically, he headed for the stairs. “We have guns in the car, we can use those.”

Delirious followed the others down the steps. Thoughts collided with his mind. He didn’t know what was going on, everything was confusing, and when the first splashes of rain hit his skin, he shuddered.

Delirious looked off to the city, the lights were turning back on, but something happened. He wasn’t sure of what, but he was going to find out.


	2. dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the way to the safe house, they end up in a car accident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what you mean by original, but thanks. :) Anyway, I didn't want to get right into too much description since I'm too lazy to read through a bunch of research on bullet wounds, so don't mind that.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter. :D

The rain was lighter and the grey clouds smoothed out, barely a speck of blue could be seen in the sky. Cartoonz drove normally along an empty road on the industrial end of the city. They weren’t sure yet if anyone was following them, or if they were compromised just yet.

Bryce writhed in the back, clinging to Ohm while his legs kicked out and almost hit Brock in the face.

“Hold still,” Ohm said, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him closer.

Bryce panted, a soft whine escaped his lips as he shook his head. His wound was soaking a part of his shirt and Ohm was trying his hardest to get him to sit right so he could fix it before the fabric could get stuck in his blood.

Brock held his legs down and sighed. “Are we almost there?”

Cartoonz tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Almost. There should be supplies at the safe house.”

“Maybe we can get a hold of someone when we get there,” Delirious said, leaning his head against the window and watching the rain slide down the glass.

“Maybe,” Cartoonz said.

When they left the factory, they had to rid themselves of their phones in case they’ve been tampered with. Delirious didn’t mind since his phone was a pre-paid and he already dropped it several times since he got it last month. He was resigned to ignore everything that was already him, hoping it was a horrible dream and that he’ll wake up to Cartoonz sleeping with his notebook and Vanoss nudging him in the shoulder to get up.

He pretty much pinched himself not too long ago, but he continued to linger in dejection for awhile. It was obvious they were all confused by what was happening. Moo Snuckel was the only one awake when the others left the factory.

They all left in two separate groups. Lui, Nogla, and Miniladd were smuggling the stolen jewelry and money out of the city. Vanoss, Wildcat, Basically and Terroriser headed into the city to meet with a contact. It was only then that Moo realized something was wrong once the entire city went out. He tried their phones, all of their phones, but he couldn’t grab any of them.

Delirious was still trying to think of what was happening, why it was happening. None of it made any sense. They finished a job. That should be the end of it. Then they’d all go into hiding for a next couple of months to avoid the heat. Yet… they were driving to a safe house with three pistols that didn’t even have a second clip, which to Delirious, was ridiculously amateurish.

“Don’t you guys take stock?” Delirious asked Moo Snuckel when he found the pistol, it didn’t even have a feasible grip.

“It isn’t like anyone would intercept us, so I figured we wouldn’t need a lot of guns.”

“That’s stupid,” Cartoonz mumbled.

That was the end of that conversation, but Delirious still held the gun firmly in his hand. It was more of an anchor to him than a weapon, suspending him to the car instead of floating away with the dark thoughts flowing in his mind. He was too numb to actually say anything more, to react to Bryce’s pained screams and Ohmwrecker trying to soothe him.

_Where did you go?_

They drove beneath a bridge, coming close to an old building near the refinery. It was one of their closest safe houses and the least used, mostly just to store weapons and have covert meetings.

A loud screech broke the suspense of Delirious’s dull thoughts. He turned his head at the exact time Cartoonz tried driving faster.

“Shit,” he yelled as a truck slammed into them, it had come of nowhere among several old warehouses, crates hid it well, with several trees and bushes. The weight of the truck was able to push the car and topple it over.

Delirious’s hand gripped the gun but as the car slammed over, it continued to roll. He could hear so many things at once, his own heart beating inside his chest, thrumming in his veins, his instincts screaming for him to react, yet he couldn’t as the gun slipped from his fingers. Glass crunched, metal screeched in his ears, someone yelling as he felt something hit the back of his head.

“Fuck.” He reached up and found he was grabbing onto Bryce’s hair, he was trying to right himself on the ceiling of the car, his eyes were wide in fear and he was groaning in pain as the car twisted and came to a stop. Bryce slumped to the side, whimpering.

“Bryce,” Ohmwrecker yelled.

They all didn’t sit there and wait out the ringing in their ears, nor the pain throbbing in their bodies. Delirious reached for his seat belt and unhooked himself, he pulled his leg up and kicked the door of the car until it slammed open. Teeth clenched, he crawled out the same time as Moo did. His hands were nicked by several pieces of glass on the ground as he kept low. His ears perked when he heard a door slamming shut several feet away from them.

“You think they’re dead?” one man asked.

“These guys are more organized than you think, they managed shit no one could do in our lifetime—”

“Yet we shoved them off the road.”

“I don’t think they’re dead,” the other said.

Delirious extended his hand to Cartoonz who took it, he glared. “Not you. A gun.”

Cartoonz glared back and passed him the pistol. He cocked it and nodded to Moo who was holding his own in his hand. The second the two men came into sight, Moo and Delirious raised their guns and pulled the trigger at the same time. The men went down, their bodies dropping to the ground.

“Third gunner,” Ohmwrecker said from within the car.

“I got him,” Cartoonz said, standing and pulling the trigger at the truck. The bullets hit the front windshield, but it didn’t break through. The driver grinned as he pulled out and drove off.

“Bulletproof glass,” Moo said.

Cartoonz pulled the trigger again, the sound reverberated through the street as he sneered in response to the distant car. “And bullet proof wheels.”

“Help, Ohm, Help me,” Bryce cried in the car.

“Shit,” Cartoonz said, as he bent down and reached in. He slowly brought Bryce out, with Ohm behind them. His shirt was soaked and as Ohmwrecker pulled his shirt up, a curse left his mouth.

“His wound opened up.”

Delirious frowned, “How far are we? We can’t let Bryce just bleed out here.”

Moo looked up at the grey clouds, rain still splattered against them. “He might even get an infection.” He took off his sweater and wrapped it around Bryce as Ohmwrecker slowly rose to his feet with him in his arms.

Bryce cried, his fingers dug into Ohmwrecker’s shoulders. “It.. hurts.. Stop.. it hurts.”

“Shut up, Bryce. You’ll bleed out if we keep you here,” Cartoonz said, helping Ohmwrecker hold Bryce.

Delirious’s attention was diverted to where the truck went. He felt numb, like everything was still a dream, an endless, clueless dream he couldn’t wake up from. He looked to the broken car and to his friends, their voices were muted, his brows creased.

He knelt down in front of the dead gunmen and rummaged through his pockets, taking his gun and his ammo. There was nothing more on him, nothing to identify him or whoever he was working with.

“We can’t stay here, they might come back and we don’t have enough weapons to hold off these type of men,” Delirious said.

Cartoonz arched a brow. “Mercs?”

“I don’t know. Seems like it, might be off grid. How far are we from the safe house?”

“We’re about a few blocks away,” Moo said, “if we hurry, we can get there and manage Bryce’s wound.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Cartoonz and Moo Snuckel stayed close to Ohmwrecker and Bryce. Delirious lingered back, hands tucked into his pants, his grey shirt was soaked, his hair matted, he couldn’t hide his shaking of what transpired.

_They tried to kill us. Whoever they were. Why? Were they the same people who had the others?_

“It makes no sense,” he said under his breath.

Were they careless? Is that why these people were coming after them. Were they easy targets to dispatch. It makes no sense. None of it. His numbing was slowly twisting to anger, to frustration and annoyance. Yet as Bryce clutched Ohmwrecker’s arm and cried in his shoulder, eyes tightly closed. Delirious knew this wasn’t what he had to think about.

Bryce was injured, he’s the better sniper. He could be a look out, but right now, he’s a liability. They couldn’t leave him like that.

“Come on, Bryce. I’m pretty sure you were shot before,” Cartoonz said, shaking his head.

“N-Not in the stomach,” Bryce gritted out.

“We were just in a car accident, Luke,” Moo interjected.

“We’ve all been in car accidents. We’ve all been shot several times on missions. Delirious even fell out of a helicopter once.”

Delirious frowned. “That wasn’t my fault. Wildcat was trying to fly the fucking helicopter, but Lui wouldn’t let him.” The memory surfaced, he remembered free falling without a parachute, screaming as he cursed Wildcat for his immaturity during a mission. He never thought he’d die like that, his entire life flashed before his eyes before he was caught by Vanoss who fell after him. Fortunately he was wearing a parachute and brought them to the ground safely.

It was also the moment when he realized that Vanoss’s laugh was something more. That it made his heart beat faster, as if the world bled color just from his laugh. Delirious clung to that, he wanted to hear it, to see him smile more. At the time, he thought maybe it was just the near death experience that was making him look at his friend a little bit more.

Cartoonz kicked in the door to the abandoned building. They walked inside and down the steps, it was colder but at least they weren’t in the rain. Moo turned the lights on while Ohmwrecker laid Bryce down on a table. It was slightly rusted in several placed and Delirious wondered if some of it was dried blood from the torture sessions they would have with either their client or their target.

Depends on the day.

Cartoonz found an old generator and turned it on, heat radiated from the vents while several more lights lit the room. Moo was cleaning some tools from a box as Ohmwrecker tore Bryce’s shirt open and assessed the wound.

“Several stitches were torn. We have to connect them, do we have anaesthesia?”

Delirious leaned against the wall beside Cartoonz, watching as Ohm tried to comfort Bryce.

“No,” Moo said, walking back into the room. He had several clean tools, including something to bite onto.

“We can’t do this without anaesthesia,” Ohm said, a pained look fell over his features. “Do we have any alcohol?”

“Yeah. Delirious, can you grab the bottle, it's in the cabinet. Cartoonz, I need you to strap Bryce down.”

Delirious and Cartoonz shared a look before they moved away from the wall. Delirious opened several cabinets, trying to find the bottle. He could hear Bryce whimpering as Ohmwrecker told him he had to bite down when they begin fixing his stitches. Cartoonz didn’t bother sugarcoating it, saying it’s going to hurt like hell.

“Won’t be the worst thing you’ll ever feel,” Cartoonz murmured, tightening the straps on Bryce’s ankles.

“Delirious,” Moo called.

“I can’t find it..” Delirious said, he opened one of the larger cabinets that had a jar of something oiling, and another with empty shotgun shells, a bottle of Whiskey sat beside a jar of teeth. “Never mind.” he reached for it and closed the cabinet. He walked back over to his friends and frowned as he passed the alcohol to Ohmwrecker who twisted the cap off and took a shot.

“Sorry,” he said, wiping his mouth and helping Bryce to take a swig.

Moo flexed his fingers. “There’s no gloves, but I washed my hands and I’ll be the only one stitching you up. The others,” he regarded Delirious, Cartoonz and Ohmwrecker, “will be holding you down, we don’t want you moving too much. Okay, Bryce.”

Bryce nodded, sucking in a sliver of air before Moo placed a piece of cloth into his mouth. They all noticed the way Moo’s hands were shaking like the rest of theirs were, he swallowed nervously.

“It’ll only take a few minutes, Bryce. Don’t. Move.” He began taking out the ripped stitches which didn’t fair in Bryce’s condition as he tried his best to keep still. Moo even had to pour the alcohol into the wound to clean it.

“Moo Snuckel,” Ohmwrecker gritted his teeth, holding down Bryce’s hip and leg.

Moo nodded as he began taking out the stitches and setting them to the side. He grabbed a wire and started to restitch the wound. Bryce had tear tracks on the side of his face.

Delirious felt like he wasn’t entirely in the room, not yet anyway. His emotions were slipping away from him as he watched Bryce turn his head to the side, his chest moving up and down, his skin was hot as he pushed down on his shoulder. He felt himself place his hand on Bryce’s forehead, words tumbling from his lips.

“Keep still, Bryce.”

Was he here? Was he truly here? He couldn’t tell.

_“Are you okay? Didn’t get whiplash?” Vanoss asked, a smile spreading on his lips as Delirious laid on his back, staring up at the dark sky and listening to the hum of the helicopter coming down._

_“The sky is dark.”_

_Vanoss looked up and shrugged. “The sky is the sky, Delirious. Get up.”_

“Okay. We’re done,” Moo said, stumbling back, his hands were bloody and he was still holding onto a pair of scissors.

Bryce panted as Ohmwrecker pulled the cloth from his mouth. Cartoonz was unbuckling the straps from around his ankles and wrists. He watched as Ohmwrecker pushed back Bryce’s hair and kissed him on the forehead.

“You’re okay. You did good, Bryce. Okay, you did good.”

Delirious tilted his head to the side and frowned. “We have to find them. This isn’t a coincidence anymore. They took out an entire city's power grid and tried to kill us on the side of a road.”

Ohmwrecker looked up. “We don’t have any leads, Delirious.”

“I can find out,” Cartoonz said, “I still have my laptop. Whoever the third gunmen was, I can probably find him on the camera’s layering the city.”

Delirious nodded, “Do that.. I need.. I need the bathroom.” He stumbled out of the room and into the hall where he shoved the door open and closed it behind him. He looked at himself in the mirror and washed his face. Vanoss’s laugh still rung in his mind, twisting with the sound of the gunfire in his ears, Bryce’s cries as the glass shattered.

He gripped the sides of the sink and panted low. “I have to find him. I have to find him. I have to find him,” he whispered over and over under his breath as he glared at his own reflection.


	3. silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cartoonz is looking for the people who tried to kill them, yet he found something else that gives him more questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might accidentally exclude some characters in chapters. Sometimes I forget who I'm writing at times. (I type fast and usually skim when I edit.) This chapter is short, but it's okay, I guess.  
> I hope you enjoy. :)

Two hours went by, and Cartoonz managed to hack into the city’s camera system, of course it took him awhile just to get to the right location and follow the truck with the third gunmen. He lost him several times since some areas of the city didn’t have any cameras. Delirious laid on the couch, he slept for about forty five minutes after Bryce stopped whimpering, he and Ohm were on the other side of the room on a similar couch. Moo Snuckel was hovering over Cartoonz.

Delirious stared, eyes burning with sleep, his body felt limp. “Find anything?” he asked, voice groggy.

“Nope,” Cartoonz answered, the sounds of typing could be heard and soft curses. “Fucking bastard is circling a building.”

“Where?” Ohm asked, leaving Bryce’s side who was crashed on the couch.

Cartoonz leaned back into his chair and pointed on the screen. Delirious also got up to see exactly what they were looking at. A camera was staring at a construction building, a small map was laid out on the side. He furrowed his brows the second the truck came into view, Cartoonz tapped a key and another camera view was displayed, showing the same van driving by.

“Decoy?” Moo asked.

Cartoonz shrugged. “I thought about that. There were many times this van could be replaced, except they don’t know that we’re watching. So this guy circling this fucking building is either fucking with us, or—”

“Or he’s on a phone receiving instructions.” Delirious pressed both hands on the back of the chair and sighed. “Any other ideas?”

Moo frowned, staring hard at the screen. “Wouldn’t he stop if he was receiving instructions? I mean.. It’s downtown, the cops would eventually stop him.”

“If they’re in on it too,” Cartoonz interjected.

“Let’s not get paranoid,” Delirious said. He wouldn’t tell them there were many scenarios already playing through his mind, all difficult and pensive that it gave him a headache. He was shaking still, from the cold and the stiff clothing, from the second he woke up and all of his friends were gone. The blackout meant something, but he didn’t know what, now someone had tried to kill them and weren’t in the least apologetic towards their own dead.

“Can you find out where the blackout started?” Ohmwrecker asked, arms crossed over his chest.

Cartoonz nodded and the screen shifted to the entire layout of the city. “Some engineers already looked into it, except someone hacked into the system twenty minutes before they could find out the exact location.”

“So.. what does that mean?” Delirious asked.

“It means,” Cartoonz said, moving the mouse around and bringing up a thin diagram layer that matched the city. Except there weren’t any buildings, it was completely run by lines of power and energy systems, he brought down a surface layer that shoved out everything else that looked more like a knotted up nest, revealing several connecting lines that were colored in a bright blue.

“This,” he pointed at the screen where it was bunched up, he brought down the city grid once more and it showed the exact location where it all lead up too, “is where it began. The hack happened in this area,” he followed one of the blue lines that were several blocks away, “and it stopped here.” The same building the van was circling.

“What about this?” Ohmwrecker asked, pointing at several other lines that were connecting away from the downtown area.

Delirious stiffened at the familiar building they were just at several hours ago. The line stopped there, another lead away from it. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Cartoonz let out a deep breath. “It’s exactly what you’re all thinking. They’ve been watching us for some time now, they managed to hack into our system.”

“When?” Moo Snuckel asked, shaking his head, his fingers curled into his arm. “We have to know when they started this and why.”

Cartoonz shrugged. “From what I can see, the line here has always been there. Maybe even before Lui bought the place.”

“So we know that they hacked into our system, watched us, planned whatever they had in mind and decided too.. Kidnap us? For what? None of this makes any fucking sense. Vanoss and the others are still missing,” Delirious said, turning away from them and sitting back down on the couch.

Cartoonz turned around in his seat, frowning at Delirious. “I’m still looking Delirious.”

“Track them,” Delirious said, meeting his gaze, “you managed to find the third gunmen, but can you track Vanoss and the others?”

“I tried, Delirious. The blackout obviously wasn’t an accident, it was a way to erase them from the system. The cameras were out and whatever happened downtown—”

“Not during the blackout, when they left. From what Moo said, they left in two groups. Vanoss, Terroriser, Basically and Wildcat went into the city. What we don’t know is who got pinched first. Maybe Lui, Nogla and Miniladd got away, maybe they don’t know what happened.”

Cartoonz nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. I can track Lui’s group and see if they got out.” He turned around in his chair and began working on the camera system again.

“So these guys are organized,” Ohmwrecker said, “they know about us, but not _all_ of us, right?”

Moo turned his head, brow arched. “What do you mean?”

“All of us weren’t on the Jewelry scheme. Droid and Panda weren’t contacted. Lui said there was enough people, so he gave them a few weeks off.”

“You think they’re safe?” Delirious asked.

Ohmwrecker shrugged. “One way to find out, there’s a store down the street with a pay phone. We can call them from there.”

Delirious nodded, standing up. “Yeah. I need a sweater before we get going.” His attention went to Bryce who groaned in his sleep. “Are you two staying here with Bryce?” he asked, looking at both Cartoonz and Moo Snuckel.

Moo nodded, “Yeah. We still have the pistols, but no other weapons in case they find us.”

Ohmwrecker chuckled, “When has weapons ever stopped us from killing our enemies.”

Delirious grinned at that and went off to find himself a sweater. Ohmwrecker was right, when has it ever stopped them. They were creative enough to kill anyone and the prospect of guns felt lazy. He enjoyed a knife to the throat, it was personal and in some way, respectful.

He dug around several old closets and lockers in the back near the bathroom and finally found a sweater that didn’t smell like mildew. He pulled it over his head and smiled at how soft and comfortable it was.

“Okay, I think I can kill people in this sweater and it also won’t stain with blood when I’m finished,” Delirious announced to the others.

Ohmwrecker was knelt in front of Bryce, whispering something to him and kissing his forehead. Moo Snuckel was looking at the guns and setting them onto the table where he previously stitched Bryce up, he was arranging the clips that were left. Cartoonz was still on the computer.

“We should get going,” Delirious said, tucking his hands into his pant pockets and walking across the room to the stairs.

Ohmwrecker sighed and stood, he glanced to Moo Snuckel and Cartoonz. “We’ll be back in the next fifteen minutes.”

Moo Snuckel looked up and gave a lopsided grin, “Okay, but I don’t think you should go empty handed.” He threw a gun at Ohmwrecker and Delirious, both catching it with ease.

Cartoonz turned around in his seat. “Don’t linger and don’t stare at cameras. You never know when some asshole will identify you and we don’t need the hit. Not when Bryce is injured.”

Delirious looked at Bryce who was laid out on his back with a blanket covering him. His head was turned to the side, his brown strands touched along his forehead and cheek, his skin was paler and the bags underneath his eyes looked darker. The longing look on Ohmwrecker’s face made him frown. He knew how he felt in some semblance.

Something happened that gave them no answer, but maybe if they could find their friends and look for answers. Than maybe Delirious could see Vanoss again, and maybe things could be different afterwards.

“Come on, let’s go.”


	4. illuminate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ohmwrecker and Delirious head to a payphone to warn the remaining members of their group, they find out someone from the four who went missing from the city escaped and he might still be in danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last comment - You made my day. :)  
> I don't reply to comments because it'll add to the comment count thinger and I'd rather have the people who like the story comment instead of me since my own will negate the effort.  
> Anyway, I hope I continue making this story as good as I want it to be. :)  
> ( Wrote this chapter while listening to Halsey - Drive. )

It was still raining and Delirious was still looking for a sign for Vanoss and the others to show up. To wind up alive and well with smiles on their faces, that the danger wasn’t real. Delirious and Ohmwrecker walked down the street away from the safe house, silence surrounded them as they moved fast that if they moved any faster, they would end up jogging, and that meant running would be next. Delirious didn’t want to run, not yet, not when he needed to conserve his strength.

They heard the sounds of police sirens several blocks back. Looks like the totaled car couldn’t stay a beautiful destructive art work anymore. It would keep the authority busy and if they find any leads that the blood in the car is Bryce’s, it would already be too late. Ohmwrecker mentioned that he would like to somehow get the blood samples out of the system before they make more problems for them.

Delirious wasn’t so sure, but he wasn’t about to destroy a man’s hope when his own was holding by an extremely thin strand.

They turned down a corner and spotted the payphone. It was occupied by a man in a heavy soaked jacket who looked to be arguing about money.

Delirious and Ohmwrecker stood five feet away, waiting patiently.

“Who should we phone first?” Ohm asked, turning his body to him.

Delirious shrugged. “Who’s the most likely to break under extreme pressure and torture?”

Ohmwrecker rolled his eyes, he looked over his shoulder at the man who was oblivious of the line behind him. "Panda."

“Maybe.”

“We should phone Fourzeroseven.”

Delirious frowned, he hadn’t thought about him and if any of the others got away— _Basically_ —they’d go to him. “Phone him next.”

“And then SilentDroidd?”

“Yeah. If these assholes were able to find us, track us and take out the best of us, we have to make sure the others are alright too.”

Ohmwrecker nodded and glanced at the man again. Delirious didn't like the wait either, he let out a deep sigh before moving past Ohm and shoving the man off the phone. He caught it before it could swing into his leg.

“Hey, what the fuck,” the man yelled, glaring at both Delirious and Ohmwrecker.

“We got worse problems then you, buddy, so fuck off,” Delirious said, taking out the pistol from where it was tucked in the back of his pants while passing the phone to Ohm. The man’s brows rose high as Delirious pointed the gun at him. “Get the fuck out of here.”

He stumbled off down the street in a full run while Ohm and Delirious watched with peculiar expressions.

“Didn’t Cartoonz say don’t make it obvious.”

Delirious tucked his gun back into the back of his pants, the coldness made him shudder. “Actually, he said _'don’t linger'_.”

Ohmwrecker dialed in the number and popped in a few quarters. Delirious watched the streets, hoping that man didn’t find cops. Mistakes happen when you’re impatient, and threatening someone with a gun was one of the worst. He didn’t have time to sneak out of police custody.

“Hey, Panda,” Ohmwrecker greeted, leaning into the phone booth. “Yeah… hey, are you okay? No, that’s not why I’m calling—It’s just that…no. Look, something happened and we’re hoping that—”

Delirious smiled at the exasperated look on Ohmwrecker’s face. He hugged himself to keep in the warmth, there was nowhere to duck under and he didn’t want to crouch underneath the phone booth, he was the look out.

A car rolled by, but from the family inside, it wasn’t whom he was expecting. The men he and Moo Snuckel killed after they shoved them off the road were a trained unit. They seemed off the books though, not something the government would hire. Mercs had imprints on their skin, gangs had tattoos while some cults had marks. Some soldiers even had tags, which were old school.

These men wore all black with medium body armour that did nothing to the bullets he and Moo shot them with. They didn’t hold anything that would identify them to a singular group. They had no clues to who they were which gave Delirious some kind of idea. If they analyzed Bryce’s blood and figured out there were more people in the car, they could also find out who the two dead men are.

He just hoped these people didn’t erase them from the system.

“Don’t go to any safe houses, just find a place with minimum security cameras and entry ways. Okay. Don’t use your credit card and act natural, we don’t need you having a tail. Get rid of your phone… We’ll find a way to get in contact with you in the next twelve hours.” Ohmwrecker hung the phone up and pushed in another series of numbers and popped in several quarters.

“He doesn’t know?” Delirious wondered.

Ohmwrecker shook his head. “He’ll be in the dark for awhile, but it’ll be fine. I’ll get Cartoonz to switch the cameras off around Panda, fourzeroseven and SilentDroidd’s place.”

“What if they’re not targeted?”

“There’s always a plan B or C. We have to be quiet about this.”

Delirious sighed, “And delicate.”

“Hey, Fourzero—what?” Ohmwrecker’s brows creased in shock, his mouth falling open as he turned to Delirious.

“What?” Delirious asked, leaning close.

Ohmwrecker and Delirious pressed the phone between them. “I’ve been waiting for someone to phone. Holy fuck, I figured man… damn.”

“Hey, hey,” Ohmwrecker cut in, “you said Basically is there with you.”

Delirious felt his own mouth fall open in shock. His thoughts ran straight through all of his friends that went missing to Vanoss.

“Yeah, he’s here. About two hours ago, shot and bloody, almost passed out on the stairs to my apartment. I managed to get the bullet out and patched him up. He’s passed out on my couch right now with painkillers in his system. Mind telling me what the fuck is going on? I’ve tried Lui, Nogla, Wildcat, Vanoss—”

“When did you call them?” Delirious interrupted.

“Delirious, you’re there too. Uhh.. about forty minutes ago when I made sure Marcel didn’t have a concussion.”

“Did anyone pick up?” Ohmwrecker asked.

“All went to voicemail besides Terrorisers. Why? What’s going on?”

Delirious felt dizzy for a second. Lui’s group wouldn’t use their phones, not when they were out of the city with stolen money. If Terroriser picked up, that means…

“You have to get out of there,” Ohmwrecker said, his voice rushed. “Get Marcel, grab whatever weapons you have, you have to leave right now. They know where you are.”

“Who? What the fuck is going on?”

Delirious grabbed the phone from Ohmwrecker’s hand, his body shook with adrenaline. “Don’t go to any safehouses, grab some guns and get out, right now. We’ll meet you under the bridge at six pm, do you understand. Leave right now.” He hung up and dialed in another number, “We have to make sure they’re safe.”

Ohmwrecker nodded, he pushed in the last quarters they had and the phone rung until a groggy male answered. “Hello?”

“It’s Delirious. You have to leave your house right now, take some cash, get rid of your phone and head under the bridge at six pm. Do you understand?”

“I have no idea—”

“Meet us there at six pm. We’ve been compromised.”

Silence echoed on the other end before a soft yawn followed. “I’ll leave in fifteen.”

Delirious hung up and started heading down the street with Ohmwrecker who matched his pace. He couldn’t stop imagining how things would tie up, that the mysteries were still skewered. Panda was momentarily safe, while Basically managed to find his way—injured—to fourzeroseven’s. He just hoped Basically didn’t leave a trail. SilentDroidd acted like a soldier at times, but he read between the lines, unlike the others who needed it slammed into their heads.

“He was shot,” Delirious gritted out.

“I know,” Ohmwrecker said.

“We have to find out what happened.”

“What if they were tortured?”

“Knowing the others, they managed to get Basically out.”

Ohmwrecker pushed back his hair. “They shot him. They shot one of ours, Delirious.”

“Damnit. Those assholes don’t know who they’re messing with.” Delirious wasn’t even sure who _they_ were messing with. What did they want with them? Why were they so important to these people that they had to kidnap four of their men and injure one?

“We'll  brief Cartoonz and head for the bridge.”

Ohmwrecker frowned. “It’s across the city.”

“That’s why I said _under the bridge_. The only place where it’s safe enough at night.”

“It’s also the sewer line.”

“Good thing all we need is bikes.”


	5. hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They arrive too late and are chased through the streets. Their only option is to continue on to the rendez-vous point to meet up with Fourzeroseven, Basically and Silentdroidd to get some answers. Delirious is having his doubts about the whole thing, but he does know is that when things get difficult, it only makes it interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a little difficult to write since I wasn't sure how to write this. Also, I'm having troubles with my writing, so the chapters will be shorter than 2,000 words. I hope that doesn't bug anyone. :/

Delirious and Ohmwrecker stopped the second they saw the black vans in front of the safe house. Several men stood to the side, hands in front of them as the rain trickled from the sky.

“No,” Delirious said when he caught sight of two men carrying Bryce on a stretcher, two other men were holding Moo Snuckel who had his head lowered, his entire body was limp. Cartoonz came last and he was awake, still fighting with blood leaking from his nose and fury in his eyes.

“Cartoonz,” Delirious called, as he and Ohmwrecker began running down the street towards them. There were too many unanswered questions, too much going on that they still didn’t know. If these people took Cartoonz, Moo Snuckel and Bryce. It’ll bring up more questions, more frustration that Delirious couldn’t handle.

Cartoonz ripped his arm back from the man’s grip and slammed his elbow into his face. The second man yanked him back, keeping him still. “Run! Don’t come after us. Run! You h-have to find them, find them, Delirious.”

The man he elbowed slammed his gun into Cartoonz face, knocking him out.

Delirious felt his breath hitch as the three guards standing near the vans pulled their guns out.

“We have to go,” Delirious said, clutching Ohmwrecker’s arm.

“They’re taking Bryce,” Ohmwrecker said in a tone of utter disbelief.

“Ohm, we have to go. Fourzeroseven has Basically, he can tell us what he knows.” Delirious understood how Ohmwrecker felt, his heart throbbed with regret that he couldn’t go back and kill the men for hurting Cartoonz, Moo and Bryce. How they found out where they were was another mystery.

Delirious pulled the gun out and fired while he dragged Ohmwrecker down the street. The van that held their friends was already disappearing from their view. Two of their men were still after them and it gave Delirious’s heart a jolt as they fired their weapons. For trained men, they weren’t accurate.

“Snap out of it, Ohmwrecker!” Delirious yelled, twisting his body slightly to fire the gun. The bullet hit the man to their left in the knee, he dropped to the ground in pain. The last fired his gun the second Ohmwrecker pulled the trigger. The bullet skimmed through the air and punctured Ohm in the arm, his own bullet hit the man in the forehead. His body hit the ground like lead.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Ohmwrecker said, he clenched his teeth and grasped his wound while blood soaked through his torn shirt. He was still clutching the gun even with his wounded arm. Delirious shoved two people out of the way who looked shocked by what they just witnessed.

They ran until their legs burned, by the time they slowed down, they were leaned against the wall in a back alley, trying to catch their breaths. Delirious closed his eyes, trying his hardest to formulate a plan that could either lead them back to Cartoonz, Moo and Bryce. Or they could head to the rendezvous point where Fourzeroseven, Basically and SilentDroidd are going to be in the next few hours.

Ohmwrecker groaned from beside him, he was ripping the shirt underneath his grey sweater and wrapping it around his bloody arm. He dropped the gun and it landed with a heavy thump.

“I can’t believe we left them,” he muttered underneath his breath.

“What else could we have done?” Delirious asked, pushing himself away from the wall. The rain was no longer pouring on them and the sky above was clearing up.

“Fight back, save the remaining members of our group,” Ohmwrecker said, raising his head and glaring at Delirious. “We left them in the hands of people who can find our fucking safehouses. They kidnapped, and are probably torturing Vanoss, Wildcat and Terroriser right now. They shot Basically and from the way they attacked us instead of apprehending us, they don’t care about you or me.”

Ohmwrecker was panting, his glare softened into a grim look of pity and exhaustion.

Delirious felt it, the pain cutting through the sheer quality of their lives, the laughter, the panic and paranoia. The memories that whisked into his mind that broke down the bits of who he was when he held a gun in his hand. There was also something else that was still alive, a bubbling trickle of laughter in his gut, rising to his throat, it felt like euphoria, mixing with the tragedy that was happening all around him.

So he laughed. Like a madman with no care in the world. He laughed until he fell to his knees and started screaming. His throat went raw after awhile and through that, he did not shed a tear, he released enough of his frustration, his anger toward these people that he closed everything off right away and stood back up onto his feet.

Ohmwrecker raised a brow. “Are you finished?”

Delirious shot a look at him and said with a scratching voice, “Are you? It’ll take us awhile to get to the sewer line, hopefully without a trail.”

Ohmwrecker assessed his makeshift bandage and bent down to grab the gun. “I’m good, but from here on out, you’ll be the one shooting.”

Delirious nodded and they made their way to the other end of the alley. Delirious glanced around the street, counting several pedestrians and cars. He made note of the colors of the cars, the clothing people wore, sometimes even their height. It was paranoia driving his mind to ruin, but he wouldn’t let up, not when Ohmwrecker was now wounded.

They left the alley and kept to a medium pace until they ducked back into another alley that lead toward a broken fence. They ducked underneath it and continued toward another section where they crossed a dead road.

Delirious went through everything he saw, everything he heard and remembered the particular clues of the men who took his friends. The way the vans were, the clothing, how many people were there, and also how they held their guns. They were good, particularly good that a few could be from the government, some weren't trained. The seemed more like a clean up crew to him.

“They had enough time to scour the place and find the safe house,” Delirious said to Ohmwrecker. “It was only a matter of time until they found us. We should’ve left once we stitched up Bryce.”

“Too late,” Ohmwrecker said, bitterly.

Delirious ignored him. “What I don’t understand is Basically.”

“What do you mean?”

“He escaped with a gunshot wound and managed to make his way to Fourzeroseven’s without anyone taking notice. It’s.. strange.” He couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was that bothered him, but from what Fourzeroseven told them, there were flaws in what he said. “He arrived two hours after he was kidnapped with Vanoss, Wildcat and Terroriser. And Fourzeroseven called forty minutes later.”

“Maybe he was making sure Basically didn’t die from bloodloss.”

Delirious shook his head and sighed. “He’s been out since he arrived at Fourzeroseven’s.”

“You think they gave him something? That Basically didn’t get out because the others managed to help him? What the fuck, Delirious?” Ohmwrecker panted as they crossed the street, both of them watching the cars and the people who lingered around several stores.

“I’m hoping that’s not the case,” Delirious said, “we need answers and the only one who could have them is Basically. If not, then we’re at square one again, this time we lost track of three of our friends, making six currently missing.”

Many things could destroy their plan, either somehow Panda gets himself kidnapped, or killed. Fourzeroseven doesn’t get out right away with Basically and they both get apprehended, or killed. Or Silentdroidd is taken or killed.

Delirious bit his lower lip. Vanoss, Wildcat and Terroriser could be dead too, right about now. Leaving Lui’s group, probably still oblivious of what is happening, while he and Ohmwrecker are trying to hold everything together, even though it’s falling through their fingers.

They managed to maneuver through the backstreets until they finally came to a six foot fence with no breaking point. They were on the other side of the industrial area. It took them about thirty to forty minutes to walk there. A few times to slow down and rest.

“Come on, remember what Cartoonz said, it’s just a bullet wound.”

“The bullet is still _in_ me,” Ohmwrecker spat, he was pressed against the wall and panting low. “I need it out, Delirious.”

He patted his friend on the shoulder, gripping the gun in his hand and grinned. “We’ll get it out, but first, we make sure Fourzeroseven, Basically and SilentDroidd aren’t a trap set by those bastards. And once we kill their tail, we hunt down the people who have our friends.”


	6. decieving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically and Fourzeroseven show up, except they bring trouble with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read and write at the same time. :/ A page here, then I write. This process helps when I need to write. :) I felt the last two chapters fell flat quite terribly, but I wasn't having a good writing day when I wrote them. Anyway, hopefully this chapter helps. I'm a fan of Basically, I seriously love his videos, he's freaking hilarious. :D I love his friendship with 407.

Delirious clasped a hand on Ohmwrecker’s shoulders, steering him against a corner of a wall. The light of the sun shadowed it and gave them a good vantage point of where to look and who to expect. They waited about two hours, during that time, Delirious scouted the area and figured out where Fourzeroseven and Basically would come through, they don’t know that SilentDroidd was coming too. This gave him an advantage to look out for the three of them and luring out their tail.

Fourzeroseven was good at handling weaponry, same with Basically and SilentDroidd. Driving wasn’t their expertise if they ever got chased down, he just hoped they had better weapons than the ones he and Ohm have on hand.

He wouldn’t deny that his mind did flick to many dangerous thoughts, mostly on his worry with Ohmwrecker’s bulletwound, how they were going to treat that if something were to happen would bring more problems none of them needed. Another was Basically’s information, if he had enough, he also wanted to make sure that Basically was okay from whatever ordeal he went through.

The other problems that he didn’t want to think about, not yet anyway will have to be shut away inside his mind for now.

“What are we going to do when they arrive?” Ohmwrecker asked, panting low.

Delirious narrowed his eyes at him. “We walk out there and hope we don’t get shot.”

Ohmwrecker shook his head, “You don’t even have a plan.”

“I do. It’s to be patient and vigilant.”

“No offence, Delirious, but when have you ever been patient or vigilant in your entire life?”

Delirious said nothing, but he did smile as he noticed someone walking out of the tunnel. Someone wearing a pink shirt with a black blazer and slacks. He was alone and seemed to be confused as he glanced around.

“He’s not suspicious at all,” Ohm said, frowning.

Delirious shook his head. “He looks ready to shoot someone. Come on, let’s go greet SilentDroidd.” They left the shadows and headed for the torn fence Delirious made about an hour ago while scouting the area, making sure they had several escape routes.

“Droidd,” Delirious called, waving his hand.

SilentDroidd turned around and a smile slid to his face as he walked into the light of the fading sun. “Delirious, Ohmwrecker, what’s up?”

“He’s calmer than I thought he’d be,” Ohmwrecker said.

Calm enough that he had no trouble getting to the rendezvous point. He didn’t have much on him, from the way he walked, he was hiding a sizeable gun in his inside pocket of his blazer and the outline of a knife underneath his right knee on the side.

Delirious stopped ten feet away, he glanced around before turning his attention to SilentDroidd. His expression fell as he raised his hands slightly.

“No one followed me, I made sure of it,” he said with a tone that reassured them.

“Tails?” Ohmwrecker asked.

SilentDroidd shook his head slowly and a smile crept to his face. “Not anymore.”

“Where’s the rest of your stuff?” Delirious wondered, he made sure to tell SilentDroidd to grab what he needed, not just a gun or a knife.

SilentDroidd tilted his head, his finger moved, indicating the tunnel he came from. “Over there.”

“Grab your stuff.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on and why I had to ditch my apartment?” SilentDroidd asked, dropping his hands to his sides.

“Grab your stuff,” Delirious repeated.

SilentDroidd regarded him before jogging back to the tunnel.

Delirious sighed, his shoulders felt tense as he made sure to look around the surrounding areas.

“SilentDroidd isn’t an amature, Lui made sure of that,” Ohmwrecker said.

“I know. Paranoia is fucking with my head right now, I don’t want anyone else.. To get taken.” Delirious let out another deep breath as SilentDroidd jogged back over to them with a duffel bag.

“What’s going on? Why did I have to come here and leave my apartment? Destroy all of my damn equipment and smash my phone? I want to know why there was a tail following me several blocks before I lead them into a trap? What the hell is going on?”

Delirious turned to him and looked him in the eyes and told him everything that’s happened in the last several hours.

“Marcel’s injured…right now?” SilentDroidd asked after Delirious finished, a look of shock was on his face, disbelief in his eyes as he dropped his bag on the ground and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Yeah,” Ohmwrecker said, clutching his arm. “Fourzeroseven is bringing him here.”

SilentDroidd nodded slowly. “That’s why you wanted me too...Did you get any leads from the others?”

“We’re hoping Basically could help us with that,” Ohm said, casting a look to the torn fence.

They should’ve been here is what Ohm was thinking, because it was the same thing that Delirious had in mind. His fists tightened as he glanced around once more, noting the silence that could echo someone cocking their guns, a scuffle of their feet, soft voices pulled by the wind itself.

The only noise he could hear was his own breathing, Ohm’s pants that were becoming more harsh and SilentDroidd bending down to grab his bag.

“What do we do?” Droidd asked.

Delirious turned, “We’re leaving. They’re not coming, something must’ve hap—” His words were cut off by a sudden sound of wheels screeching, followed by another set, gunfire was loosed into the air as the noise grew more pronounced.

A bright yellow car that didn’t say _‘subtle’_ at all crashed through the torn fence and shot through the air before turning on its side and sliding up the slope on the other end of the sewer. Tire marks burned the surface of the concrete as it came to a standstill.

“This isn’t fucking Fast and the Furious, Scotty,” Basically yelled through the shocked silence.

“Holy shit,” Droidd said under his breath, swinging his bag over his shoulder. “Basically and Fourzeroseven, they’re alive.”

“Delirious,” Ohm yelled as Delirious twisted around, away from the yellow car and pulled out his gun. Another car stopped at the torn fence, faces obscured before bullets shot through the air at Basically and Fourzeroseven.

“Get in the fucking car,” Fourzeroseven yelled, as he drove towards them.

Delirious gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger, giving Ohmwrecker and SilentDroidd enough time to run to the car. Once they were in, the car at the torn fence began to descend, followed by another.

“Shit,” Delirious rounded the car and slid into the back.

Basically was in the passenger seat, holding a gun in one hand and the other gripping the arm wrist. “Go, Scotty, fucking drive.”

“Quit yelling in my ear,” Fourzeroseven yelled back.

The car jerked forward as both Delirious and SilentDroidd rolled down their windows and began firing their guns. Ohmwrecker moved down his seat, still clutching his arm and cursing at the pain of the movement.

“When did they start following you?” Delirious asked, reaching across Ohmwrecker and grabbing an automatic pistol.

“Does that really fucking matter?”

“Yes,” both Delirious and Ohmwrecker said at the same time.

Basically shook his head, gripping the arm wrist again as the car climbed up the slope and crashed through another fence, they ended up on a road, the car sliding as it hit another car. Fourzeroseven didn’t waste any time as he sped down the street.

“Shit, they’re still on us,” he said, taking a quick left turn, sliding past a car that was about to turn.

“This isn’t fucking Tokyo Drift,” Basically yelled.

“Yeah, you keep on fucking telling me!”

“Holy shit, when did you wake up? And are okay? Should you be in the front seat while he’s driving?” SilentDroidd asked, completely startled by Fourzeroseven’s frantic driving.

Basically turned, clenching his teeth as he gripped the back of the seat to keep himself steady. “Yeah.. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. Sit the fuck down, Marcel,” Fourzeroseven yelled, reaching for Basically’s arm and trying to pull him down while driving.

“I’m fine,” Basically said, waving Fourzeroseven’s hand away from him. “Focus on driving, goddamnit.” He shuddered at the cold wind as he turned his attention back to Delirious and Ohm, “I woke up about.. An hour ago.”

“Yeah,” Fourzeroseven said, “all disoriented, had to get him some water, he threw up on the side of the—”

“Ignore the details,” Basically said, glaring at Fourzeroseven. “Scott said they were following us about twenty minutes after we left his apartment.”

“You had a tail the entire way?” Ohm said, frowning.

Delirious turned around, brows creased. “How did you escape? Where are the others?”

Basically gritted his teeth, “That’s the thing. I don’t know. We left into the city after Terroriser got into contact with a new client, we hoped that Droidd and Panda could work on the mission while we leave the city. Except the entire fucking city went out.”

Fourzeroseven twisted the car to the right. The wheels burned the asphalt as he drove past several cars lined up in front of red light.

“Fuck, you’re going to give me whiplash,” Basically said, gripping the seat. He turned his attention back to Delirious and Ohmwrecker. “We were smoked out. No one knew what the hell was happening, even when the rain dissipated the smoke, we were already gone.”

“They were that fast?” SilentDroidd wondered, reloading his gun.

“They were organized. They put us in separate armoured vans.”

Delirious tightened his hold on his gun, his mind spun from the movement of the cars, the wind whistling against the window and loud pelting bullets hitting the back. 

"How did you escape?" Ohmwrecker asked.

Basically grinned. "You know me. They practically left the door open for the taking."

"Do you think they wanted you to escape. Maybe try and locate the others so they could kidnap them too?" Delirious wondered. He didn't want to think about the possibility, it was too keen and obvious that they should've seen it coming.

"Could be, but I don't know. They stabbed me with something before hand, it wasn't heavy but I was able to walk," said Basically.

“Then they shot you.”

He noticed the way Basically looked down. “Yeah. They shot me two blocks from Fourzeroseven’s. I barely felt it from the drug that was already in my system.”

Delirious moved back into his seat, twisting around and sticking his hand out the window to shoot at the car. He gripped the side of the window as he shot one of the gunmen’s arm, he heard a loud groan as he dropped the gun. Using the opening, he aimed for the window and for the first time today, he got a ricochet shot that hit the driver. The car twisted to the right, slamming into the car to its side before coming to a complete stop by hitting a tree.

“One more,” Delirious said, dropping the gun to the floor.

“What they didn’t expect from Marcel and I,” Fourzeroseven said, clenching the steering wheel and grinning into the rearview mirror. “Is that we make a lot more damage together. Injured or not.”

Delirious smiled and knew it to be true. They were both frontmen in the group, sometimes Fourzeroseven worked the sniper, while Basically was a crack shot with whatever gun he held. They were always excited to go on missions together.

Basically chuckled, sitting back down and putting pressure on his side. “There were at least five cars before we got to the rendezvous point.”

“You cut it down to two?” Ohmwrecker asked, brow raised, impressed.

“Hey, Scotty may drive like a mad man, but he can get other cars into really destructive accidents.”

“No civilian casualties?” SilentDroidd asked, reaching for another gun.

Delirious frowned as he looked down. “Is that _all_ you brought? I told you to grab clothes.”

SilentDroidd shrugged. “I thought you were bullshitting.”

“So.. you didn’t destroy any of your stuff at your apartment?” Ohmwrecker asked.

“Once I get to a payphone and call my cellphone, _then_ it’ll be destroyed.”

Basically and Fourzeroseven laughed as SilentDroidd shot at the car before it twisted and came to a screeching stop near several cars. The sound of glass shattering faded as they drove away.

“We didn’t kill any civilians, but I’m not so sure about the two cars we just left behind,” Basically said.

“Do you think they’ll use the others as bait?” Ohmwrecker wondered.

“Probably,” Delirious said. His body was shaking form the car chase and Basically's information. "Unless they have something else planned for them." He didn’t even want to think about it, it was too horrendous to get into, but his mind spun with scenarios that it was difficult to shove out.

Were they dead? Tortured? Holed up somewhere else? These people already captured Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel. Who else is there to find and why?

“You were with them for almost five to six hours, do you have any clues to where you were when you were with them? Did they do anything to you?”

Basically shook his head. “From the looks of it, I might’ve been in a warehouse… of some kind. I was locked in a room, my ankles were cuffed to the floor. That’s about it. I don’t remember anything else.”

Ohmwrecker mentioned the kidnapping of Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel that happened about two hours ago. Everyone in the car went silent for awhile as Fourzeroseven began driving along the highway.

“You haven’t heard from Lui’s group?” Fourzeroseven asked.

“No,” Ohmwrecker replied.

Delirious looked out the window and frowned at how the people in the other cars didn’t have to worry about a bunch of missing friends. That some of them were already injured, that Fourzeroseven had to do everything to keep Basically alive, while Basically tried to help as much as he could while making sure his stitches didn’t open. Bryce was also injured, Ohmwrecker still had the bullet inside of his arm…

“Do you have a medkit in that bag of yours?” Delirious asked SilentDroidd.

Ohmwrecker rolled his eyes. “You’re not the only one who got shot, Basically.”

“Hey, at least it wasn’t in the stomach.”

“True,” Ohm said.

SilentDroidd took out a small kit and frowned. “There’s not enough bandages in here for your wound. I don’t even have wire. Fuck.”

“What is that for? Scratches?” Delirious asked, chuckling as SilentDroidd closed the kit.

“We have some in the trunk, we can patch Ohm up once we’re at the refinery. I also want to look at your wound, Marcel,” Fourzeroseven said.

“What refinery?” Delirious asked.

“It’s not one of the safe houses. Just a place where we like to hide out in when there’s too much heat,” Basically explained.

Delirious considered it and decided that it was safe enough. Whatever reinforcements will take some time and if they can fade into the bright lights of the cars on the highway, maybe then they can have an hour or so with some peace to patch one another up.

"Have any of you wondered why they let Basically go?" Fourzeroseven asked, his voice tense.

Delirious frowned. "I figured maybe it was because they wanted to flush the rest of us out."

“Yet it failed, didn’t it? The only people they were able to bring out were you and Ohmwrecker, and from what you told us about Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel’s kidnapping, they were shooting _at_ you, not trying to kidnap you, but kill you both." Fourzeroseven looked in the rearview mirror. “They weren’t trying to flush out you or Ohmwrecker, because they already knew where you were. They didn’t expect you two to be gone from the safe house. It was a lucky chance you two weren’t there at all.”

Delirious sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. It was all coming together so quickly that he felt hollowed out. His hands were shaking with the realization on who they kidnapped and who they’re trying to grab.

“Lui’s group, they’re trying to flush _them_ out, not us.”

“And Basically isn’t the only one who might randomly show up,” Fourzeroseven said, his voice faded from Delirious’s mind, but the words were still there, so keen in his ears, “there’s going to be another and this time, we might be too late.”


	7. zone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious and his friends are holed up at a refinery in hopes to look over Ohmwrecker and Basically's wounds. They decide on a plan of attack instead of staying on defence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually make up the technical aspects of the story, so if there's any inconsistencies, it was all made up on the spot.  
> ( I was listening to Ola Strandh - Dark Zone while writing this chapter.)

“You can’t keep eating those.”

“I can,” Basically said, popping in another pain killer and grinning at Fourzeroseven who frowned at him while looking at his wound.

“You don’t feel anything?”

“Am I supposed too?”

“Yes. A few stitches are torn from all your movements in the car. I’m surprised _you_ didn’t notice.”

“I didn’t like the shirt anyway.”

“That’s _my_ shirt.”

Delirious watched the exchange with interest as Fourzeroseven helped Basically lie down. It was a parallel of Ohm and Bryce, except Fourzeroseven didn’t lean down and kiss Basically who closed his eyes and fell asleep right away.

“Okay, Droidd, come help me with Marcel’s stitches.”

SilentDroidd sniffed, rising from his seat and walking across the room to kneel beside Fourzeroseven. Basically was lying on a bench. They couldn’t find a table, unfortunately.

Delirious turned his head to glance at Ohmwrecker who was sitting on a chair across the room, he had a lamp with a bright light aimed on his shoulder and was currently stitching up his wound. Dried blood covered his skin as he clenched the wire between his teeth and tugged the stitch close before pushing in another.

“Do you need any help?” Delirious asked.

Ohm shook his head, leaving Delirious to stare at the wall with his thoughts. There was a lot to think about, but he tried to push them away, hoping no one noticed the way he curled his fingers in the hope of either strangling or punching something. The gesture was clear with how calm Delirious felt and the way he rolled his shoulders and cleared his throat.

Shoving the thought away into the deep recess of his mind was difficult. More so when he realized he was safe, they all were with the exception of their friends who were still missing. The situation continued to get worse. Basically surviving the fallout was the only good thing to come out of it, he was relieved that nothing too damaging happened to Basically. That he wasn’t tortured, killed or bled out from his wound.

Fourzeroseven seemed to feel the same way. Always staying close and making sure Basically was okay, he even said when they arrived at the refinery that he wasn’t leaving until Basically was able to fully walk without falling over.

Delirious wondered what would happen to the others. Terroriser, Vanoss and Wildcat were still gone, missing for about six to seven hours and it was making Delirious sick with worry and anger.

He didn’t like that he was just sitting on some chair in a cold refinery, silence dulling everything out and provoking his anger. He hated it. What else could he feel but that? It festered inside of him and when he had enough, he stood and meandered over to SilentDroidd’s bag and sifted through the weapons he carried to the rendezvous point.

They managed to stop at a phone booth when they lost their tail. His cellphone would emit an incredibly loud sound that would destroy any type of electronics in exactly ten meters. Similar to an EMP except smaller, it was something Lui and Nogla created in case they didn’t want to blow up their own apartments and everyone in it to get rid of their equipment.

For now, they’ll have to come up with a plan that could separate them once again. Something that bothered Delirious a lot more than his own simmering rage. He separated from his friends at the beginning, and they were taken without his knowledge. Only for it happen again with Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel.

This time, they’ll have to be smart and what Fourzeroseven said about someone else showing up, maybe in worse shape than Basically. They’ll have to expect that too, at least either a dead body, or an extremely tortured victim.

“Two of us should locate Lui’s group,” Fourzeroseven said as he stepped away from Basically who was sleeping with a bandage around his stomach.

Delirious shook his head, clasping his hands together. “You might have a tail.”

“We can deal with them,” SilentDroidd said.

“We can’t afford you leading them to Lui.”

“What do we do then? Hole up here and hope they don’t come for us. Basically and Ohmwrecker can’t fight, not when they’re injured.”

Ohmwrecker frowned, but he didn’t bother opening his mouth to object.

“Why do they want Lui’s group?” SilentDroidd asked, crossing his arms.

Delirious sighed and stood up. “Probably the money we stole.”

Fourzeroseven shook his head. “No. It can’t be that.”

“What else do you think would motivate them to kidnap Vanoss, Terroriser, Wildcat and Basically. They’re our best fighters in the group, excluding Lui, Nogla and Miniladd themselves.”

“I don’t really think they’re the best of the best,” Ohmwrecker interjected, making sure the wound was completely sealed before cutting the wire.

“Bryce and Moo Snuckel are the best snipers, but Bryce is injured,” Delirious said, casting Ohmwrecker a glance before turning his attention back to Fourzeroseven. “Basically’s a vanguard, one of the best shooters in our group, including Vanoss and Terroriser. The rest of us fall quite short, since we’re initially the expendable soldiers. I’m surprised these people didn’t bother going after Lui, but I’m sure Lui could easily kill them all on his own.”

Fourzeroseven sighed, shoulders slumping. “Lui didn’t tell any of us where his group was going. What would be the point of kidnapping our friends?”

“To lure them out,” Delirious said, plopping back down on the chair. The thought ran circles in his head, over and over with the intention of building his impatience.

“Instead of killing these people, how about we capture one?” SilentDroidd wondered, brow arched.

“They’re like a pack of wolves. We won’t be able to corner one without difficulty,” Ohmwrecker said.

Fourzeroseven grinned. “Are you talking about us _or_ them?” Delirious and the others couldn’t help but smile at that.

For the next hour, they planned out a ploy that would lure some of the men to their spot by entering the city grid by making noise on several roads. The doors would open and it would surely attract someone in a matter of minutes. The police is what they’re hoping to be the decoy while they locate the people who are tracking them. It was a guess that Delirious and Fourzeroseven hoped to accomplishment while SilentDroidd stayed back at the refinery with Ohmwrecker and Basically.

“You think this will work?” Fourzeroseven asked as they left the Internet Cafe surrounded by a mall and several coffee shops. It was about ten at night and the lights of the city was almost refreshing.

Delirious patted the inside of his sweater where his gun was tucked inside a holster. “Yeah. We just have to wait, the bug will do the trick.” A flutter of excitement roiled inside his body, his fingers twitching in hope to pull the trigger. He would laugh, an urge he hadn’t had for awhile, but it was there. A need that shook him to his core whenever he thought of these people with his friends, with.. Vanoss.

Sarcastic, confident, Vanoss. With all his definable characteristics, his smile and warmth that pulled everyone together and reassured them that whatever plan they had would work. It never felt right whenever he wasn’t with them, when he wasn’t the one planning and deciding what they would end up doing. The one who had the audacity to open something inside of Delirious and let it pulse in his veins.

The street lights started flashing, with the sound of steel screeching against steel as two cars collided together a block away. Screams emitted against the walls as a few bystanders stayed close to take pictures and videos, while others ran in hope they wouldn’t get hit.

“Ready?” Fourzeroseven asked.

Delirious grinned, his excitement thrummed in his body. “Yeah. I’m ready.”


	8. knocking at your door.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious is finished with waiting. Hoping to protect the friends who aren't captured, he'll go it alone and show them that they shouldn't have underestimated him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Delirious is out of character, I do admit. :/ But I'm hoping to get a more darker character who is slowly falling apart with worry that if he can drown in a little chaos, he will. 
> 
> (The Pretty Reckless - Sweet Things.)

It seemed foolish to try and lie through his teeth. He kept his mouth shut with the hope that no one saw through his plan. He was glad that Ohmwrecker was injured and that he had to stay back, he would end up as a liability. With Fourzeroseven with him who has a purpose on protecting Basically, it gave Delirious an edge.

Two police cars were assessing the damage of the accident. They watched from afar in the shadows of an alcove, near several civilians who were taking pictures and videos. The street lights still blinked through the three colors, before the lights along the block began malfunctioning as well.

“Where did you get the bug?” Fourzeroseven asked, hands tucked into his coat pockets.

Delirious shrugged his shoulders. “Vanoss used it once or twice in his own heists when he needed to get away. Usually with his phone.”

Fourzeroseven nodded. “Do you think they’ll come?”

“One car accident isn’t going to send these people to scout the area, we need something with our signature.”

“And what would that be?” Fourzeroseven asked, brows pressed together, attentive at what Delirious was saying.

They always worked in groups, hiding one another’s faces in the shadows of their jobs. Never revealing anything that could ultimately get themselves captured. Not like this anyway. This situation won’t have anything extreme that would allow them to slip off their masks. Instead, the bug will do the work, it was small and destructive within the system, but it also had a trail that lead up to it, leaving a direct fingerprint.

Within several minutes, they heard another car accident coming from the west on the other street, then another. Screams echoed along the streets as the police officers called in for more back up, an ambulance rolled up near the recent crash as EMT’s jumped out to assess the damage of the passengers.

“Never seen you so focused before,” Fourzeroseven said, “it’s kind of disturbing.”

Delirious narrowed his eyes and said nothing. He couldn’t tell him how much he hated the waiting, how much he wanted to hurt the people who took his friends. Instead he looked on and watched the crowds grow as they stared at the blinking lights in awe.

Fifteen to twenty minutes passed and Delirious figured this little plan didn’t work. But that wasn’t until he noticed someone on one of the high roofs, looking down with a small telescope in their hand.

He nudged Fourzeroseven in the shoulder. “We got one.” He raised his chin and Fourzeroseven noticed, a smile rose to his face.

“Alright. How are we getting him when we’re all the way down here?”

“We’re not,” Delirious said, scanning the street, “we’re grabbing his buddy.”

“His _buddy_?” Fourzeroseven asked, one brow raised in question at Delirious.

Delirious nodded, he turned his head to the left, following the end of the block to the back alley where he noticed a sleek black car parked on the street.

“There,” he pulled onto Fourzeroseven’s arm to indicate where the other was.

“Okay.. he’s bound to notice us.”

“He doesn't know how we look, so we should be good.”

“They’ve been hunting for us in the last day and several hours. They know how we look, Delirious. We have to be careful.”

Delirious gritted his teeth. He had no time to be careful, he wanted this done now. “Be the decoy. Get their attention.”

Fourzeroseven narrowed his eyes at Delirious. “What are _you_ going to do?”

“Don’t worry about that. Once you got their attention, leave. Head back to Basically, Ohm and Droidd. Get out of the refinery, leave the city if you have too.”

“For fuck sakes, Delirious. You can be really cryptic in a scary way sometimes, you know that.”

Delirious smirked, shrugging his shoulders. “We do what we have to do.” He ambled across the street toward a crowd of people and lingered in its fray. He watched as Fourzeroseven stepped from the shadow and fired his gun, getting the attention of the police officers down the street, and the man on the roof. He headed down an alley and faded into its darkness as the crowd began screaming and headed the exact direction where the car was parked. All Delirious had to do was get comfortable with the crowd while pulling his gun from its holster.

The police officers headed after Fourzeroseven while Delirious slowed his pace from the crowd. He came up to the side of the car, pulling the door in surprise and slid into the passenger seat. He didn’t hesitate to point the gun at the driver at the same as he shut the door.

“Shut up,” Delirious said as the man’s mouth opened. He reached for the weapon sitting in the car door and threw it in the back seat. The man was dressed like the others in a similar fashion, black and white clothes, neatly combed hair, from the way the coat was bulging on one side, the man wore a heavy bulletproof vest.

They were expecting a fight.

“I knew I recognized you,” the man said, glaring at Delirious.

“Always trust your gut, or you’ll get a gun pointed at your face and maybe a bullet in your head,” Delirious said, smiling, “drive. Your buddy on the roof will be busy looking for me and it gives us no reason to stay and wait for him to realize what’s happened.”

The man glared, a look of frustration clung to his features before making the smart decision and started the car up. Delirious pulled the wire from the man’s ear and whatever was strapped to the inside of his coat, throwing it out the window as they drove down the street.

“You won’t get anything out of me,” the man said through gritted teeth.

“That’s okay,” Delirious said, nudging the man in the temple, “all you’ll do is drive to the place where you have my friends.”

“I..don’t know where they are,” the man said, hands tightening around the steering wheel.

Delirious remembered what Basically had said when he and the others got ambushed. They were all placed in separate armoured vans, possibly be held in different places. Were any of them in the city? And what about Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel? Did they get separated too?

“You know where one of them is being held,” Delirious said, watching as the man said nothing, but he did notice the way his adam’s apple bobbed. “Do you know who exactly?”

The man shook his head, mouth firmly shut.

Delirious rolled his eyes and cocked the gun, the sound was loud and insinuated for what would happen next that the man inhaled thickly.

“No. W-We don’t know. A four man unit brought in an armoured van several hours ago and whoever was in it was kept a secret. The rest of us weren’t a-allowed in the room..” He rambled quickly that Delirious at first had a hard time figuring out what he said before he let out a laugh that startled the man.

“You have the first four that were kidnapped. You might even have Vanoss, or maybe Terroriser or Wildcat. We have Basically who was graciously given back to us, thank god. But you guys have one of the best shooters in our damn group. Holy shit.” Delirious couldn’t help his elation at the prospect he was about to regain another key player in the group.

“You have no idea about the other three that were kidnapped not too long ago, right?” Delirious asked, nudging the man again with the barrel of the gun.

The man shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel. They were kidnapped too, but I guess they wouldn’t tell another branch of this odd operation where the others are, it makes sense.”

The man frowned, looking at Delirious. “Why do you call each other.. Those names?”

Delirious shoved the gun against his cheek. “Don’t look at me, drive. And it's like code names, don’t you guys have any?”

“Not really.”

Delirious leaned against the door with his leg pressed on the man’s thigh, the gun still pointed at his head. They fell into a silence that Delirious didn’t mind, his own heart was hammering inside his chest, and he was able to tune everything out to listen to it as it thrummed against his skin. His hand shook at the weight of the gun and his own excitement at who he’ll find inside whatever place they were heading too.

Who he was going to fight through to get to them. He would do anything to retrieve his friends.

“Don’t get close,” Delirious said as he caught sight of a building that looked normal but it was close to the train tracks, several people wandered around, watching the area with suspicion. They were far enough away that they wouldn’t notice them, but the street was sparse and if the man in the driver's seat made any noise, this would be over quick.

He needed to go in quiet without interference. Directing the man to head into an alley where he stopped. Delirious sighed the second he started to fight.

“Please, don’t kill me!” the men begged, grasping Delirious’s wrist and trying to twist the gun from his hold, he clenched his teeth as he tried reaching for the handle to the door. Except the one thing he forgot was the seat belt he wore.

“I’m not leaving here without my friends, and you’re a liability.” Delirious yanked the man forward and grabbed his jaw before another burst of pleads fell from his lips. He shoved the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered and the sound rung heavy in his ears as he pushed away from the man’s dead body. It slumped as Delirious grasped the handle to the door and slid out onto the cold ground, his body shook as he kicked the door shut and laid down with his eyes closed.

“F-fuck,” he whispered, he reached for the gun and pushed himself up. Pressing his forehead against the door, he waited several minutes for the ringing to stop and silence to pull around him.

He finally opened his eyes and looked at the blurry reflection in the car and wiped the blood from his face. He shoved the gun into his holster and rose to his feet. He didn’t look into the car as he headed away from it toward an intersecting alley. It lead to the other end with straight walls and nothing to hide behind.

Taking a deep breath and making sure he was steady on his feet. Delirious proceeded toward the end and peeked around the corner. The building was guarded by two men on each side of the door, wearing the same indistinguishable clothes. Several workers near the train tracks didn’t look like workers at all, more like guards.

He gritted his teeth when someone began walking toward him. He ducked back into the alley and grasped a stone, waiting for the right time, he tossed it and it made a small sound. Getting the attention of the worker.

His next plan of attack was easy. He knocked him out and stole his clothes. It was a bit baggy, but it didn’t matter as he placed the hard hat onto his head and meandered down the alley until he was in the clearing.

“This better fucking work.”

Ignoring his nervousness, he walked to the back end of the building. He didn’t have to guess that there were guards at the back too, but with a quick nod to the men, he meandered past them and headed up the stairs to the door.

His mouth was parched and he cursed how nervous he felt. He wasn’t given a solo mission in awhile. No one even knew he was here. If he was caught, tortured or killed. That would be it, the others would eventually find out or they wouldn’t.

A fate he wasn’t ready for.

He closed his eyes and pushed all his nervousness down until he felt calmer. When he opened his eyes, he was lighter on his feet as he walked up the stairs and past several workers. All he had to do was recon and maybe guess where the person he was seeking was. If he can do that without confrontation, than it’ll be easier to ensure his own safety and the route he can take out of here.

There were three floors and a basement. Nothing was initially guarded and no one asked him questions. This was odd, even when they had someone who was incredibly dangerous in their midst. Maybe they were calm that whoever they captured was locked in a room.

Delirious furrowed his brows at something that looked familiar. A table with C4’s laid out, several had LUI written on the sides. He picked up two and placed them into his coat, grabbing the remote control, he turned it around and tucked it into his pocket. Now he knew who Lui’s workers were loyal too, he can give them a proper consequence of betraying them.

He looked out the window and examined the routine of the workers layering the street and the tracks. They gradually moved around, but nothing more until he noticed several stood close to a container on the train tracks.

“You’re in that?” Delirious wondered to himself, he gritted his teeth as he left the window and headed back down the steps.

The building was a front, a distraction. The containers on the tracks were more accessible and from the way they were guarding one meant something. Either it was just cargo, or the cargo was a person, locked away in the dark.

Delirious didn’t want to attract anyone with his eagerness. So he kept his pace slow as he descended the stairs, pushing the door open. The air smelled of smoke and gravel, the two guards that were positioned on the steps were gone, so were several others. He could hear yelling from the other side.

“He’s dead,” one man said to another as he took out a radio, his face flushed. “Shot in the mouth.”

“Do you know when?” the other asked, sneaking a glance toward the alley where Delirious shot the man. Several people were already over there, looking into the car.

“Don’t know, looks like a few minutes.” He noticed the crowd and glared, “Get back to work.”

Delirious narrowed his eyes toward the container, only two left while the other two stayed stationed around it.

“How do I make this easy for me.” Delirious glanced to an empty space and walked around it with another worker. He gave a nod to him, “What does this mean for us.. Since they found the body?”

The man shrugged, his face scruffy and his eyes a cold blue. “No idea. Either the guy is watching us or he’s infiltrated our men.”

Delirious wrinkled his nose. It wouldn’t take them long to find the unconscious worker and his black sweater he draped over him. “Time will tell,” he replied, looking for an opening as he glanced over his shoulder at the others. They were too focused on their work and trying to figure out what happened amongst their numbers.

Delirious pulled out his knife from within his shirt next to his gun and stabbed the man in the heart, he covered his mouth as he convulsed against him. “Easy, big guy. Just take it easy.” He grinned as he set him down on the ground and pressed him against the large wheel of one of the trains. “Here you go, buddy. A parting gift.” He place the C4 in his overalls and ambled toward the container.

He gripped the knife and walked toward the man and knew if he got this right, he wouldn’t have to alert the other and kill him too. He wasn’t sure if he could get whoever was inside the container out without alerting anyone, this was about to get complicated as he waved at the man who turned his head and glared.

“What are you—”

 _Dead._ The knife sliced through the air and slammed into his forehead. Delirious rushed over and laid him down before his body could hit the ground and alert the guard on the other side. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the lever and pushed it up, it screeched until he grasped the door and began sliding it open.

“Hey, what are—” The guard on the other side looked down and his mouth fell open at the dead man with the knife sticking out of his head, he went for his gun in his holster, but Delirious beat him to it.

He pulled the trigger and shot the man. His body hit the ground as Delirious slipped into the container and looked around, only to see someone chained to the end with a blindfold around his eyes and duct tape over his mouth.

Delirious grinned at the mess of bruises and dried blood. “You really gave them hell.” He knelt down and shook his shoulder as he heard people yelling. “Wake up, dammit.”

“Mmmm…”

Delirious pulled the cloth from his eyes and smirked. “Hey, Wildcat.”


	9. when I was unafraid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious found Wildcat, the container they're trapped in is moving, they have no ammo for their only gun and there is two armed men hanging off the side. He tried to do it alone, but instead, they received a message that opened something dark inside of Delirious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I know it might be unrealistic, but just pretend. :)  
> Writing this took a lot out of me, I'm shaking because I didn't eat or do anything besides trying to write this the way I wanted to write it. (I also realized I sometimes write in passive voice. So my bad.) I hope you like this chapter, and I also enjoy a different take on Delirious.
> 
> (Imagine Dragons - Thief) - My favorite band and song.

Wildcat stared in disbelief as Delirious reached for the end of the duct tape on his cheek and smiled before yanking it off.

“Mother fucker,” Wildcat yelled, slapping his hand on his red cheek. Delirious flung the tape to the side and aimed his gun at the chain. He pulled the trigger and regretted it when the sound rebounded against them both.

“Holy fuck, Delirious, you fucking idiot.” Wildcat growled, covering his ears.

Delirious fell back and groaned. “Shit…that hurt.”

“I’m pretty sure the asshole outside has my damn keys,” Wildcat says, glaring at Delirious.

“No time, we have to go.” He peeked out of the opening and caught sight of several rounding the train. “We have company.”

“No shit, you just fired a gun,” Wildcat said, staggering to his feet.

“And killed three sentries,” Delirious grimaced. He didn’t have a clear plan when he decided to rescue whoever was inside the container, but finding out it was Wildcat himself. It made things a little easier. They all had their quirks, and maybe Wildcat isn’t the best driver, nor the best shooter, but he was one of the people who is incredibly lucky and the most reckless.

Besides himself, of course.

Delirious peeked outside and pulled back when a bullet pinged against the door. He sighed, gritting his teeth as he looked to Wildcat who was trying to take off the cuffs around his wrists.

“You couldn’t have grabbed the keys,” he complained, again.

“No time, six are coming this way, all holding assault rifles.”

Wildcat frowned, “Please tell me you didn’t come here alone.”

Delirious regarded him before taking out a C4 from within his overalls and made sure he didn’t press the detonator by accident.

Wildcat walked up to him, frowning at what was in his hands. “Is that a.. C4? Oh, Delirious, what the fuck?”

“Shut up and help me close this,” Delirious said, tossing the C4 outside at a good angle before grasping the door and began sliding it closed. Wildcat rounded him and pushed until they were sealed inside. Delirious pressed the detonator, he and Wildcat were thrown to the end of the container as it lurched forward. The sounds of metal screeching together burned his ears, followed by the shouts of the men outside, along with rapid gunfire.

Delirious laid half-conscious with pain exploding through his right arm with his forehead throbbing. His body was flushed with warmth as the ringing in his ears continued until silence followed it. _Am I deaf?_ Delirious groaned, rolling on his side as a cold wind pressed against his skin and the heat was replaced with intense pain.

“Fuucck.” Squeezing his eyes shut, a screaming brought back his senses. He opened his eyes and struggled to sit up until he felt a jagged movement that shoved him to the side, he hit the wall of the container before rolling to his left and raising his head to see Wildcat with the door wide open and firing his gun.

The container.. It was moving.

He reached up and touched where something warm slid from his forehead. He winced at the stinging pain and frowned at the blood on his fingertips. He was dizzy, but not too much, his entire body was already sensitive to the fast movement before another jagged turn almost toppled him backward.

Wildcat held onto the door, he was slightly leaned out and shooting his gun before swinging back in, his back pressed against the door. “Got another clip?” he asked.

“No,” Delirious answered, earning a sneer from Wildcat.

“You decided on a rescue mission but didn’t bring more fucking ammo?”

“I was being stealthy.”

Wildcat clicked his tongue. “You should know the both of us don’t _do_ stealthy.”

Delirious crawled toward the door, panting low as they were moving further away from the building. “How did you get this to move?”

“Me? You’re the one who had a fucking C4 in your shirt.”

Delirious furrowed his brows as he peeked out. The building was set ablaze, a fire that touched the sky and made the blue a translucent white.  There were two men hanging onto the back end with assault rifles swinging off their shoulders by a strap. He could also see a heavy pistol in a holster around their waist.

“These guys might have clips,” Delirious said, grinning.

“Fuck that. I ain’t going out there and getting myself killed.”

“So, you want to wait for them to kill you _in_ here?” Delirious asked.

Wildcat wore an uneasy expression on his face. He was also bleeding on the side of his head, blood shining in his hair, along with dried blood from either an interrogation method or they just wanted to beat him senseless for being a smartass. Bruises littered the side of his face, including around his wrists where welts were beginning to show.

“Maybe we can lure them in. I mean.. They can’t stay out there for long and all we want is there weapons.”

Wildcat nodded. “The container is also a small space. If we can do this right, we won’t get shot.”

Delirious breathed in and out, hoping to get himself to stop shaking. He was already afraid that if he stood, he might fall over. He had to be in fighting condition to protect Wildcat. There was also the complication of telling Wildcat about what happened after he and the others were taken, including what Wildcat knows. Maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he’s like Basically and they were just chained up in a room without any knowledge of why they were there.

Would these people let Wildcat go like they did with Basically? Shooting him halfway to safety in hopes that he would live without bleeding out alone in some alley?

Closing those questions off, he used the wall of the container as leverage to rise to his feet.

“Where are the others?” Wildcat asked, he stared at the wall as they both listened to the sound of the two men walking on the top of the container. “Why are you here alone?”

Delirious sighed. “Can we discuss this after we have their guns?”

Wildcat narrowed his eyes at him. “We might die in this fucking container, Delirious. But sure, let’s talk about this after.”

He wasn’t even sure when the container was going to stop. It kept moving, but he felt a slow momentum.

“They must be out of ammo,” one said, his voice carried by the wind.

That gave Delirious an idea. “Give me the gun.”

Wildcat frowned. “What? Why?”

“They don’t know we’re out.”

“We are,” Wildcat said, gritting his teeth, he tossed the gun at him. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

Delirious shrugged. “Improvise if they shoot me.”

“You’re the last person who would let these kinds of assholes kill you.” Wildcat gave Delirious a hard look that prompted him to do this quick. He knew that if Wildcat got into any type of fight, either climbing the side of the container, the chain that bound his wrists together would only make noise, ruining the need of stealth that they both don’t agree with. The welts, bruises and the blood on the side of his head were fresh, he was hardly fit to fight anyway and they both knew it.

Delirious breathed in and out before using the side of the door and gripped the outside where a handle was welded on the side. There was barely anything to hold onto, and the wind was harsh against his side. Delirious reached onto the top edge and pulled himself up, the two men were holding their guns, one was talking into a radio.

“We’re waiting until the container slows down, sir. Yes, we’re close to the bridge—Sir? You want us to…” he glanced at his buddy to his right, but his gaze flickered to Delirious who was already pulling himself up. His mouth opened as he dropped the radio and reached for his gun.

Delirious clenched his teeth as he came up behind his buddy, pulling his hair to the side, exposing his neck where he pressed the barrel of his gun too. “Easy there. Don’t want to kill your buddy, do you?”

The man sneered at him. He wore the same heavy vest that the guy who drove him to the building, except his was exposed with a black jacket.

Delirious made sure the man he held didn’t retaliate, his hand settled for the gun tucked inside its holster. It was heavy with a full clip, he grinned as he tossed his own, revealing to the two men that it was empty.

“You bastard,” the man in front of him said.

“I really don’t care,” Delirious replied, grasping the man’s wrist, twisting him around and shoved him off the moving container. His gaze stayed focused on the one standing in front of him. The disgusted look on his face had paled to shock. Delirious pointed the gun at him and smiled. “Were you expecting someone merciful?”

“I’m guessing, since you haven’t shot me yet, that you want information on the people we took,” the man regarded him, his tone heavy.

“ _People_ ,” Delirious said, tilting his head to the side, he snickered at the man as he felt the container slowing, “those _people_ are my friends. My friends. You and your organization kidnapped them, tortured them, shot three, and decided to take more.” Delirious walked closer to the man, the gun still pointed at his face. “If you have information, I might give you a more fair mercy than your buddy, if not,” Delirious shoved the gun against the man’s chest, “I’ll throw you off and make sure you end up paralyzed."

The man gritted his teeth, trying to stay away from the edge. “Look to the bridge.”

“What?” Delirious frowned.

“B-Bridge. The guy I was talking too.. He wanted to know where this container was heading… and he said.. Bridge.”

Delirious clenched his hand around the gun as he turned his head. They were moving closer to a bridge, but as the container was seconds from stopping. He almost couldn't believe what he was looking at.

“No..” he said under his breath at the sight of a bloody, beaten Terroriser with two men standing on either side of him. “Wildcat—” before he could get anything else out, the man grasped his wrist, and twisted until he pulled his fist back and punched Delirious in the face.

Pain exploded in the side of his head as he fell, the gun still clutched in his hand, he twisted his body before another pain sliced into his leg. A gasp tore itself from his throat, he raised his hand in panic and pulled the trigger multiple times. The bullets struck the bulletproof vest, except several had hit the man’s shoulders that held his gun, another went into his forehead, knocking his head back. His lifeless body fell from the container as Delirious turned his body.

Wildcat climbed onto the top, trying to assess the damage in his leg. Except the image of Terroriser still clung to his mind.

“Terroriser, Terroriser..” he said, shoving at Wildcat’s hand. “He’s behind you!”

Wildcat’s eyes widened as he turned. Delirious felt sick at the sight of how they left him hanging off the bridge, hands in the same chained cuffs as Wildcat’s tied to the bridge itself.

“Give me your fucking gun,” Wildcat yelled, taking the gun from him and slipping off the container, he ran toward the bridge, toward Terroriser whom they both weren’t sure if he was alive.

All Delirious could feel was a burning relentless anger rising inside of him as he watched the black sleek car drive away.


	10. barren lands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only one out of the three of them that isn't injured is Wildcat. Getting them to safety is hard enough when Terrorizer is unconscious and Delirious is shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My tumblr is - skullszeyes.  
> I don't reply to comments. Sorry.  
> Anyway, I'll also apologize for taking almost a month to write another chapter. I took a break, but because of that break, I kind of lost interest in this story and didn't know where I was going with it.  
> I hope you enjoy nonetheless.  
> (If These Trees Could Talk - Barren Lands of the Modern Dinosaur.) - Music I listened too while writing this chapter.

Delirious slipped off the top of the container, holding tight to the edges as a stab of pain sliced through his senses. He grinded his teeth together from screaming out. Pressing his uninjured foot on the inside of the container and slowly lowering himself down. He twisted his body while a bead of sweat slid from the side of his face before he stepped off the container itself.

Clutching the side, Delirious breathed deeply in and out to calm his shaky body before limping toward the bridge. He tried his best not to fall over, knowing the pain would become unbearable afterward. His sight fluctuated to blurry and clear, his body felt ragged and raw after the skirmish on the container, while he was shot plenty of times on missions.

This time he had nowhere to go, no one to help him.

Terrorizer still hung from his wrists, head lolled to the side, dark lush bruises layered his skin where dried blood bubbled up from numerous cuts. His own clothes were torn in several places.

The sight was nauseating. Delirious couldn’t imagine why they would do this to him, maybe they have different purposes for each person they took. There was a thought running in his mind, the words wouldn’t come to him, but he felt it sinking into his skin.

_Is he still alive?_

Wildcat stopped beneath him. There was a sort of defeat to the way he slumped his shoulders, head lowered as he clutched the gun.

Delirious groaned as he began to descend into the sewer line. It was difficult when there was slant and nothing to hold onto.

Wildcat raised his head, brought the gun up and shot the end of the chain. Terrorizer’s body fell and wildcat caught him, stumbling back and they both landed on the cement. Wildcat slid Terrorizer off and laid him down before looking over the wounds scattered all over his body.

“I-Is.. he s-still alive?” Delirious asked from a far, his voice soft and aching.

Wildcat ignored him, tearing at Terroriser’s clothes, at the same time hissing quietly. Curses that were too common for Wildcat as he turned Terroriser’s head to the side, glancing at the wounds before leaning back on his knees. Another defeated posture coming from his slumped shoulders and lowered head, a deep sigh followed after. He raised himself to his feet and stomped toward Delirious whom he shoved over.

A gasp tore itself from his throat as pain shredded through his body. Writhing on the ground, but the one thing he could hear was the gun cocking in Wildcat’s hand.

“You said three were shot, who?”

Delirious stuttered a breath before regaining his control. “W-Why the fuck are we talking about this _now_?”

Wildcat gritted his teeth and knelt down beside him, pressing the gun to his chest. “Shut up, Delirious. Fucking tell me before I put another bullet in your other leg.”

Delirious winced at how expected his words were. They were sharp, filled with anger and pain that he couldn’t even resent Wildcat for wanting to shoot him. He hadn’t told him the truth of what was happening, only that it fueled his rage and desperation when he saw Terroriser hanging off the bridge.

“Bryce was a-already shot before everything went south, Basically after he escaped from his captors, and Ohmwrecker in the shoulder. And..n-now me..”

Wildcat continued to glare, his hand shook at how tight he was holding onto the gun before he pulled away.

“What happened after we were taken?” Wildcat asked.

Delirious breathed deeply in before telling Wildcat everything. He tried his best to block out the pain and the awareness of Wildcat’s trigger finger. His expression darkened before disbelief took over. He stepped back, shaking his head, unable to form words as his gaze flitted to Terrorizer’s body.

“Are the others still at the refinery?” Wildcat asked, his gaze stayed focused on Terrorizer.

Delirious pushed himself up, he panted lowly at the pain shooting through his body. “I..I don’t know..”

“You rescued me,” Wildcat said, he covered his face and let out a deep sigh before turning back to Delirious, extending his hand out, “Thanks.. And sorry.”

Delirious looked at the offered hand and took it. Lifting him up was exhausting, he groaned and the world beneath him shifted. Wildcat grasped his side, easing him toward Terrorizer before placing him down on the cement.

“You didn’t know if I was in the container,” Wildcat said, narrowing his eyes at Delirious.

He shrugged. “I had to save one of you.”

“But you hoped it was Vanoss.”

Delirious was stuck wondering if that was true. “Everyone was disappearing.. I had to know..I had to find out. I couldn’t stop,” he closed his eyes, trying his best to concentrate on the words instead of the bullet inside his leg, he pressed down on the wound.

Wildcat noticed and moved beside him, ripping his pant leg and looked over the damage. “I’ll need some tools to get the bullet out. Right now, we’re sitting ducks. I can’t exactly hide you anywhere. You’re both injured.” He wrapped the ripped pieces of Delirious’s pant leg around the wound, securing it before telling Delirious to keep pressure on it.

They looked back at Terrorizer. His breathing was shallow, head turned to the side with blood splattered all over him.

“All his wounds are fresh, hitting nothing vital. They tortured him before they brought him over,” Wildcat said, turning his head, “they were trying to get information out of him.”

“Do you know what for?”

Wildcat shrugged. “I don't know. I was left in the container, the only time anyone talked to _me_ was when they were beating the shit out of me, but they’re getting quite desperate to find Lui and his group.”

Delirious looked at him, brows furrowed. “You knew?”

Wildcat rolled his eyes, “Of course I knew. It’s the only obvious reason.” He glanced around, frowning. “We have to leave. I don’t like being out in the open like this.”

Delirious didn’t like it either but there was the complication of having a bullet in his leg and an unconscious torture victim. Wildcat was beaten, but not extensively, there were bruises marring his skin, but he took in stride. Probably too used to the treatment since he’s one of the major vanguards of the group.

“I could take one of you at a time, but I’ll need help with Terrorizer.” Wildcat looked at the slant on either side of the canal, and the ladder itself.

Delirious glanced around as well. It was quiet and not comfortable in the least, but he did notice something not too far away from them on the other side. “There’s a tunnel over there,” he said, pointing.

Wildcat tilted his head, brow raised. “That leads to the train track. We could sneak through there, or maybe I can hide you in there and—” He frowned at Delirious, “Is there anyone else that hasn’t been kidnapped?”

Delirious licked at his dry lips. “Uh. Panda.”

“Where is he?”

“Safe house. I don’t know which one.”

“Might have to try all of them. There should be a payphone around here.”

“And you have money for a payphone?”

“I can pick pocket someone. We should be in the wrong side of the city, maybe I can even rob some poor bastard.”

They spent about fifteen minutes trying to figure out how Wildcat was going to get Terrorizer to the tunnel. Walking through sewage wasn’t going to help his wounds. With a deep resigned sigh, he took off his shirt and ripped at the pieces, wrapping them around Terrorizer legs. There weren’t many cuts there, but he wanted to be careful.

Delirious watched the area with the gun firmly in his hand. It felt like a safety measure, something he had to hold onto and remind himself that passing out wasn’t a good idea. There was also the problem of how cold he felt, even how much he placed pressure on his wound, his body felt weak and useless.

“Hey.” Wildcat’s voice was loud, practically scaring him out his thoughts. “Calm down,” he said, taking Delirious’s arm and wrapping it around his shoulders and lifting Delirious to his feet.

“It.. hurts..” Delirious said, wincing at the spike of pain that made it hard to breath.

“Yeah, what else is new,” Wildcat grumbled. It took awhile to get across to the other end of the canal. Delirious shuddered when he felt the cold water touch his skin, he clutched Wildcat’s shoulder until they were inside the tunnel.

“Keep your leg elevated,” Wildcat said, placing Delirious down beside Terrorizer who was still unconscious and lying on his back.

“I’m not going to raise my leg.” The mental image was odd enough as it was and he wasn’t even sure if he had the energy to do so.

“Whatever. Can you stay up until I return?” Wildcat asked.

Delirious nodded slowly. “I think so. Can you get a sweater or a blanket.. It’s cold..”

“Shit. Stay awake, Delirious. I’ll be back.” Wildcat frowned before turning away and running out of the tunnel.

Delirious breathed hard, clearing his throat, he tilted his head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

_Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake…_


	11. until the fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious knows his anger has diminished, his fears are growing, yet somehow there is still hope in the inevitability. He just needed the right motivation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. :) This took most of the day to write. I had troubles thinking of what I wanted to do with it. But I got it under control, yay. :D  
> I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> (Red - Hold Me Now) - Music I listened to while writing this chapter.

“Hey, Delirious.” The voice sounded familiar, close to the edge of his subconscious that it mixed with so many other voices. The ones that were missing, that made his heart race with desperation, and the one voice he wasn’t sure he was ready to confront.

“Wake up, Delirious.” He opened his eyes and found it was hard to do so. The cold seeped in first, followed by a numbing pain that only increased by the second. He breathed in, but it felt more like he was gasping.

“Whoa, calm down.” The voice belonged to Panda, he was knelt in front of him, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders. There was a bandage secured around his leg where he was shot.

“Did you get him up?” Wildcat asked, appearing in the tunnel and walking toward them.

Panda chuckled. “He.. just woke up.”

Wildcat knelt down beside him, “You freaked me the fuck out, you bastard. Thought you kicked the bucket. What would I say to the others once I saved them?”

Delirious managed a weak shrug, which brought frowns to Panda and Wildcat. They both grabbed an arm and hauled him to his feet.

“T-Terrorizer..” Delirious murmured, head lolling against Panda’s head.

“We grabbed him first. He’s in the truck,” Wildcat answered as they left the tunnel and headed up the slant to a broken fence. A red truck sat on the side of the road and Delirious noticed that the sun had gone down.

_How long was I out?_

They helped Delirious into the back with Terrorizer who was sitting up, leaned against the window with a seat belt across his chest. There were several bandages wrapped around his body, including a stiff blanket. Panda jumped in between them to keep them both secured while Wildcat sat in the driver’s seat.

“You’re.. Letting him drive?” Delirious asked, brows furrowed in concern.

Panda gave a lopsided grin. “It’s better if we get out of this area as fast as we can.”

“Anthony, try to get a signal out to Lui and Scotty’s group. We can’t move around like this, not without some allies on our team,” Wildcat says.

Panda nodded, he twisted in his seat and reached in the back for a small rectangular box. Setting it in his lap before ripping it open and taking out a phone and a thin laptop. He dropped the box on the floor and turned the phone on, setting it down beside him, he grabbed the laptop.

Delirious watched the dark screens turn on. Panda grabbed the phone, taking off the back cover and placed a small chip from within his jacket and set it into the phone and turning it off again.

“Do you think they’ll take the message?” Panda wondered. Hooking a cord to the laptop and waited until several windows popped up on the screen. They were secure networks, weak but barely detectable since they mirror a few anti-virus’s and there were a lot of those in the city. Delirious was sure no one would be able to locate them in a moving vehicle anyway.

“Lui’s not an idiot,” Wildcat says, firm and knowing.

Panda grabbed the phone and turned it back on. It took awhile, but when it did, a window popped up that revealed a signal base tech with a radar.

“Equipment is up and running. If we get a signal back, we can track it,” Panda says, as he typed in a message to both Lui and Fourzeroseven’s group.

“Can someone hack into that?” Delirious asked, tapping the side of the laptop.

Panda nodded. “Most people don’t really know what they’re looking for, so I doubt it anytime soon. Wildcat already told me everything that’s been going on. I appreciate you trying to protect me though.” He smiled, nudging Delirious in the shoulder.

Protecting his friends was going down hill since this entire thing started. They were still confused on who these people were. They were a complete enigma and were able to hunt them all down without even a measure of resistance. Of course, besides himself and the others who were still safe.

“Is.. T-Terrorizer okay?”

Panda turned his head to look at the unconscious man before nodding at Delirious. “Yeah. We cleaned his wounds and took out the bullet in your leg—if it wasn’t obvious already. They didn’t do much to Terrorizer besides beat him until he passed out. Maybe even waterboarded him. For what, we won’t know until he wakes up.”

 _If_ he wakes up. The thought made him sick. He turned his head to the side, pressing against the window as he looked out at the flashing street lights and the people who didn’t know what was happening. Completely oblivious that it pissed Delirious off.

They drove and drove, several moments he found himself closing his eyes and succumbing to the warmth of his dreams. Except the pain in his leg always seemed to wake him, reminding him of the present he didn’t want to endure.

Panda was focused on the laptop and the phone. Waiting for something to show up, while Wildcat drove carefully for the first time. What bothered him the most was that Terrorizer still wasn’t waking up.

“Did they give him anything?" Anesthesia would be an easy fix to keep someone like Terrorizer at bay. Even when he had information about where he was and who these people were. It was a long shot. The routine these people were going with was to keep them all hidden away from anything that could give them a clue. The locations were scattered, they were organized, yet at the same time, flimsy.

“Yeah. We found injection marks,” Panda said, sitting up right, “We’re receiving a signal.”

“Fuck, finally,” Wildcat said, slowing his ascend behind the large Los Santo’s sign and stopped at the top. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he twisted around and Panda passed him the cellphone. “About a click outside the city.”

“It’s not far,” Panda pointed out, “they didn’t send a message.”

“But it’s Lui?”

Panda nodded. “Yeah. No one else is out there, but them.”

“Not a second signal?” He passed the phone back to Panda who placed it beside him on the seat.

“Nope. I’m guessing Fourzeroseven and Droidd haven’t found a place to hole up with Ohm and Basically.”

Wildcat sniffled. “Damn. We might as well try and track Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo.”

Delirious turned his head at the sound of his friends names. The ones he felt a deep regret for, the images of their capture flickered through his mind. Cartoonz screaming for him to run before getting knocked out. The contact was harsh and the sound nerve wracking. He wanted his friends back, all of them, he wanted them safe from those bastards who took them.

They spent half and hour behind the sign, waiting for a signal or at least a message. The radar no longer tracked the one Lui sent them, it disappeared quickly.

Panda was on the laptop and currently flitting through the traffic cameras, looking for anything suspicious that had to do with containers on the outskirts of the city. Delirious mentioned the pattern was too coincidental and it was easy to hide people in, even when it needed to be locked on the outside.

For the past hour, Wildcat was leaned against the window and Delirious wondered if he fell asleep. Delirious who stayed quiet for most of the time, trying his hardest not to focus on the pain in his leg. His mouth was parched and his stomach grumbled, but he said nothing about food. He tugged the blanket tighter around him, shivering.

“How are..we going to find Cartoonz, Moo and .. Bryce?” He asked, mostly to distract himself from everything else that was going on in his head and body.

Panda cleared his throat. “I’m backing up the time duration in several camera’s that surrounded the safe house you were last in. Some were overwritten,” he said, snickering.

Wildcat chuckled and if Delirious had the energy, he’d probably laugh as well. _Bastards left a trail._

A soft beeping noise sounded through the silence. Wildcat sat up and Delirious turned his head as Panda picked up the phone. His brows raised, a slow smile pulled at his lips as he passed the phone to Wildcat.

He sneered, dropping the phone and turning around. “Hold on,” he told them, turning the engine on and driving toward the other side of the sign where a bike path was laid out.

“W-what’s going on?” Delirious asked, watching Panda lean down and grab the phone.

“There’s two distinct signals in the city.”

He shrugged. “One could be Lui and Fourzeroseven.”

“That second signal isn’t either of them,” Wildcat said, driving faster than he should be. “It’s coming from the building in the centre. The one you said that a van was circling before Cartoonz and the others were kidnapped. It’s being constructed and there’s several containers on the top.”

“We’ve been watching out for something distinct like this,” Panda says, “these people have been hacking into our shit and we knew that if we could track them using some really weak and unimpressive equipment, we could find them.”

“And they just made a wrong move by entering our secure lines, the ones that are connected to the rest of our safe houses,” Wildcat said, a sense of joy laced through his words instead of the impatience seconds ago.

Delirious sat up right in disbelief, they did this under an hour and yet the implication of the containers on top of a large construction building stopped him. “You..don’t mean..?”

Wildcat grinned in the mirror. “Yeah. The last of the Vanguard is there.”

_Vanoss._


	12. shadow of myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking up, but Delirious won't let go of the burning pain that's wrapping around his anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever get bored of something? .. Well, yeah, I got bored of Vanoss and his friends. I wasn't sure if I was going to finish this since I'm terrible at finishing stories. :/ I'm close though. Maybe 3-4 more chapters. IDK. Prolly 2. I really don't know. 
> 
> (J.T Machinima - Shadow Of Myself.)
> 
> Enjoy.

Delirious kept his elation to a minimum, knowing that if he let it overwhelm him, he’d end up doing something reckless. Right now, there were too many things that needed done and _reckless_ wasn’t a part of that.

“Receiving coordinates,” Panda said from beside him. He’s been focused mainly on the laptop and cellphone he made into a radar, waiting for a signal and message from their friends. Several times, he inspected Terrorizer’s wounds and even glanced at Delirious, nudging him to see if he was dead. Delirious glared at him each time.

He never felt this sick before. Not from a bullet wound, but it might have been for the lack of painkillers he took in the past, including sleeping outside for almost an hour was bringing on a fever, maybe an infection. Something he didn’t need right now.

“Where?” Wildcat asked, looking in the rearview mirror at Panda.

Panda tilted his head and frowned. “I’m guessing, East Vinewood.”

“The hipster place?” Wildcat blurted out in disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me, fucking stupid Lui and his stupid—” The rest of his vulgarities were cut off with him pressing down on the gas pedal and practically going past the speed limit through the bright streets.

Delirious shuddered, his fingers dug into the blanket. He raised his leg that wasn’t injured and kicked the back of Wildcat’s chair. “Chill the fuck out, Tyler.”

Wildcat grunted, coming to a fast stop before a red light. The laptop and cellphone were flung from Panda’s hands. Terrorizer groaned, head lolling forward. Delirious pulled on his seat belt to stop it from choking him.

Panda sighed, he picked up the laptop and cellphone off the floor. They weren’t damaged or cracked, but he did shoot Wildcat a glare. “It’s an open area and no one would expect us going there.”

Wildcat snorted. “Yeah, that makes perfect fucking sense. These assholes didn’t give two shits when they ambushed us in the middle of the fucking street downtown. They didn’t care who was in the way.”

“The only time they ever attacked us was when we were near something that initially belonged to us, like the safe houses,” Panda retorted.

“The second I get my hands on Lui..” Wildcat went on with his vague threats before driving fast down another street, the turns were swift, and he made good on not slowing down so quick.

“Did he send a message?” Delirious asked, his heart beating fast in his chest.

“No,” Panda replied, adjusting the seat belt around Terrorizer’s chest.

“H-How do we know it’s him?”

Panda turned his head, brow arched. “It’s him. Lui isn’t intentionally vague, he knows what’s happening.”

“He also has Nogla and Miniladd with him,” Wildcat said. “He should be fine from any onslaught that comes his way.”

“He’d be fine without them too,” Delirious said.

Lui wasn’t necessarily the leader of their group. He was just incredibly skilled at handling any type of weapon and vehicle. Most of the group didn’t argue that Lui is better, a few complained, but eventually they all accepted the inevitable and listened to whatever orders he gave.

Delirious glanced up at Wildcat and wondered what he felt about seeing Miniladd after what he went through. There was a brimming rage beneath his calm exterior, but worry was taking hold. It was obvious by the way he drove, fast and impulsive.

“We got another message,” Panda says, “they want us to stop on the south end of the park.”

“Why?”

“Suspicious? Delirious asked. He didn’t expect that, but if the others got ambushed and placed inside containers, and then later updated that the secure lines are watched. How else were they going to react but with suspicion that something might be wrong.

Panda was already typing in the message and Wildcat drove along a curve before coming to a slow stop before turning. His driving eased up when they entered the quiet street. They came to a stop beside the curve, Wildcat got out first, mumbling something under his breath.

The slam of the door pulled a groan from Terrorizer, his eyes stayed closed and his head pressed against the window.

“Is he in a coma?” Delirious asked, a quiet hope that he wasn’t.

Panda looked down at the laptop, finger tapping against the side. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking, after this, we can send him to a decent hospital. Wired money is easy and we can’t assure his safety after this.”

Delirious knew he was right. At this point, Terrorizer was dead weight. He couldn’t exclude himself, looking down at his wrapped up leg. The pain was present as ever, thrumming through his body, aching with a need to itch around the torn skin. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

It reminded him of the disdain that rippled through his mind. The rotten thoughts after Terrorizer hung by his bloodied wrists, unconscious from a beating these people afflicted. There was a lot he wanted from these people, a little time with each one, in a room with thick walls and a single knife. He could imagine the screams he’d elicit from them, breaking skin and vein.

How pleasant it would be to end them slow, waiting for their pleads, for their bargains and curses. He’d wait it out, tempt them, hone them, until they become ripe for him to pluck their lives from their bodies.

That was the future he was longing for.

Wildcat tapped the glass and Delirious rolled down the window. “Tell them we’re here, if they don’t show up, we’re leaving. I had enough of their fucking games,” he said, looking off to the sky that lightened in the horizon. A yellowish tone, spreading out with a fading grasp on the deep blue and silver stars.

The keyboard clicked until it came to a full stop. “Says they’re.. here.”

A low scream tore through the silence surrounding them. A bullet skimmed past Wildcat’s head, lodging into the ground several feet away.

“50 Calibre Sniper Rifle,” Wildcat said, turning around.

Delirious covered one ear, annoyed by the loud ringing that emitted. Panda was also having the same problem, while Wildcat was taking it in stride.

“We’re going to have trouble hearing by the time we’re thirty,” Panda said.

“Might be earlier than that,” Delirious pushed open the door and stumbled out, his hand gripping the door to keep himself steady, at the same time, clenching his teeth at the pain shooting up his leg.

The cool night seemed to work on his sweat soaked face, hair clinging to the sides, yet he shivered, cursing at the wound and lack of food or water. He wasn’t entirely focused on the necessities when fear and worry took over.

Panda slipped out, helping Delirious who held the vehicle with shaky hands, his gaze focused on the empty street and lowlights. There was something in the distance. A figure waving their hands, familiar and calling out.

“Craig,” Wildcat said, relief washing over his face before breaking into a sprint.

Relief that Delirious wanted to feel, standing, shaking on the concrete with the core of his being bare and yearning. Not for comfort or rest, but to burn and tear that _building_ apart for what these people have done. 


	13. promised you an answer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They met up with a plan to end it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the nice comments. :) Wasn't sure if anyone would like this when at first I had no idea what I was going to write. Thanks to the ones who do like this story and stayed long enough with the hope that I'd finish. 
> 
> The chapters have been cut down, and I think there are about 3 more left. Possibly. :)
> 
> (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter / Paul Haslinger - I Promised You An Answer.)

It could’ve been years from the way Tyler embraced Craig. Lifting him in the air with smiles on their faces, with the sun rising and their lips meeting. Craig wrapped his arms around Tyler’s neck, hand in his hair.

Delirious smiled, genuine, knowing that there was always something warm in the midst of chaos. Behind them, strolled Nogla and Lui, both with no gun in sight, but he knew they had one concealed.

“Do you think we have a winning chance?” Panda asked, gripping the phone and eyes focused on Tyler setting Craig down before planting another kiss to his lips.

“Yeah,” Delirious answered, with no false hope on the tip of his tongue, the poison of it would only deteriorate his chances of surviving, and he needed to survive.

What did it mean when the sun rises and the pain resides? What did it mean for himself who couldn’t shake the rage that coiled inside him? It made a monster of most, he figured, and he wouldn’t mind being a monster when night surfaces.

They all piled around the truck, Lui passing Delirious a bottle of painkillers he gratefully took.

“Have you looked into it?” Wildcat asked, hand intertwined with Craig’s.

The door to the back was open with Panda on the laptop, he was hacking into the city camera system that were connected near most of their safe houses and places he figured Fourzeroseven, Basically and Ohmwrecker were at.

“My phone is encrypted, after I found out what happened, I wanted to make sure we weren’t followed nor intercepted once we entered the city,” Lui explained. “I cut off our support network that held most of our information and the safe houses that were listed. A poor indication of my expertise, it only shows I have to update our equipment after we finished with this little incident.”

“Little?” Delirious asked, blinking a few times to ease the clouded feeling that washed over him. His bullet wound faded from his mind, there was a sort of twitching in his fingertips, but other than that, he was fine.

“Things could’ve gone worse,” Nogla said, arms crossed, “they could’ve killed you all.”

True. They could’ve, but why didn’t they? Torturing them was their objective, but to end them would’ve been cleaner, smarter. He was glad they weren’t in that respect. It’d make it easy for him to show them the mercy he didn’t have.

“We located Vanoss, he’s on top of the construction building downtown inside a container. For the past hour, we’ve also been trying to get into contact with Fourzeroseven, Basically and Ohmwrecker,” Wildcat said, narrowing his eyes at Delirious. “Basically and Ohmwrecker are injured.”

“Where were they last?” Lui asked, looking to Delirious.

He licked his lips and heard his voice, low and laidback, prompted by the pills dissolving in his stomach. “Refinery. About three hours ago, maybe four. Don’t think they stayed.”

“Would be stupid if they did,” Wildcat remarked. “Panda already checked the refineries. We’re waiting for a signal, anything that indicates that they received our messages.”

“Nothing too specific?” Lui’s brows crease, turning to look at Panda who met his gaze.

“It’s vague. No one would know but us.”

 _Us._ The group of friends with happy trigger fingers.

Delirious snickered and the others ignored him. He leaned on the truck, looking off to the horizon. Light seeped through the blue sky, silence and the thrum of his heart burn with impatience. He trusted his friends, but right now he trusted the tip of a blade a little bit more.

“What about Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel?” Miniladd piped up, his gaze flitted off toward the back seat where Terrorizer was now lying down on. His wounds were looked over and repatched.

“We looked into that as well,” Wildcat informed. “We managed to get a clear line from one of our old safe houses—”

“I have to organize the inventory after this,” Lui said, shaking his head.

“—and the camera’s surrounding them.”

Lui arched a brow. “They made an amatuer mistake?”

Wildcat shrugged. “Might’ve been. I don’t know, but if it is, we might want to grab them first.”

Delirious twisted around. “What about Vanoss?”

“We know where he is and if they’re going to make a show of either killing or torturing him. They’d do it once they know the difference in our tactics, or the lack of them,” Miniladd said.

“And did you find out who they are?” Panda directed this to Lui.

The question gnawed inside Delirious’s mind since this all began. A constant ache like an open wound, bleeding out possibilities.

Lui let out a breath, soothing that wound. “Two rival mercenary groups we took out five years ago. The surviving members surfaced and formed its own group, they call themselves Jaeger.”

“Not the worst name I’ve ever heard,” Delirious muttered.

“They know us in some regard,” Miniladd said, “no wonder we were taken out quickly.”

Delirious pushed himself from the truck, barely stumbling. “How about we return the favor. Kill them all and this time, zero survivors.”

He would let the blood lust swallow him whole. His entire being. For what the images stirred inside, blending like a smooth deep bruise on warm skin. It festered, grew, simmered, a weight that was unbearable. He breathed in, sunshine and brisk wind. Would that be the last of his peace before he let the craving rise above? A monster that hunted thieves, a shift in resistance that he no longer needed. Exhaustion forgotten, he waited, watching the flicker of movement and decision in their eyes.

“It’s best we don’t separate. If these men have a hold in the city and are hacking into our secure lines, we won’t be safe from any prying eyes,” Lui said, gritting his teeth, “Brian’s injured, someone will have to stay with him.” He looked at Delirious and down to his leg that was wound up tight with gauze and antiseptic.

“I’m going,” Delirious said, hoping that they could feel the murderous tension radiating off of him. It twined within, aching and sick.

Lui gave a nod, turning his attention back to the others that weren’t injured. The ones who could run, to scout, or even hinder and disguise themselves as the enemy. The plan developed. Nogla and Lui left the way they came, along with Miniladd who lingered with Wildcat.

“Nothing?” Delirious asked Panda, head tilted, eyes fixed on the screen of the laptop.

Panda slouched, face drawn away with shadows plump under his eyes. “I really don’t know.”

Delirious knew that look, felt it hours ago, like a slow fire going out, smoke drifting in the air and cold remaining. “Don’t let worry burn you out. We’ll find them and kill the ones who did this.”

“You’re so sure, after what you went through.”

Delirious shrugged, gripping the side of the car. “It’s all I have but hope.” And images he did not deserve yet gained. Screaming friends in a dull evening air, night tearing apart with bullets and burning cars with one who hung, beaten, dripping blood with flourishing bruises.

All he had was hope that sat perched on a building inside a cage with no escape.


	14. pulse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're close, but something comes up, something that could reunite the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I got obsessed with Resident Evil 7 and was a little more invested with that fandom, and Vanoss is no longer as interesting to me. I'm almost finished this story, so I might as well finish it up. :)
> 
> Thanks for the nice comments. It really did make me happy that you like this story so much. :)

Tyler drove behind Lui for the past twenty minutes. They were talking over the phone that Lui encrypted and the one Panda made into a radar.

“It’s better if we find them first, before they decide to send out a signal. Jaegar’s men will pick it up and we don’t want that happening,” Lui said on the other line.

“And what if they don’t send out a signal,” Tyler asked, looking over his shoulder at Panda who was holding up the phone.

“They’re either not anywhere near a transmitter, or they got themselves caught. We’ll head for Vanoss—”

Delirious grabbed the back of the seat and pulled himself up, the painkillers in his system numbed the pain in his leg. “What about Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel? We can’t leave them.”

“We’re working on it, Delirious,” Lui said. “Right now, the only one we are really sure of is Vanoss. Panda will stay on the radar, and try to locate them through the camera’s. We’ll probably find Fourzeroseven’s group in no time and if they need medical support, we’ll have it.”

“And of Terroriser?” Panda asked.

The line went silent for several moments, before Lui let out a sigh. “Nogla can take Terroriser to a hospital. It’s better that we don’t have liabilities hanging around us.. I do suggest that Delirious, you should—”

“I’m not going. I’ve been running from these assholes for several days now, watching as my friends get shot and captured. I’m coming with you guys to grab Vanoss and the others,” Delirious said, glaring at the phone.

“Alright. Wildcat, we’ll diverge on the street up ahead. Don’t make contact with the building, be sure to stay in the alleys until I call you back.”

“Yeah,” Wildcat said, slowing down the truck as it came to a red light. Lui’s van went left. Panda switched off the radar and set it in his lap.

Delirious stared out the window. It was morning and he was tired. His body ached from all the running, hiding and fighting in the past few days. He wasn’t sure if he got a good night’s rest since everything began.

“What if we can’t find Cartoonz, Moo and Bryce?” he asked. He ached, helpless, it felt out of his control. He tried his hardest to do something, and sure it helped finding Wildcat and Terroriser, and bringing in Panda. He couldn’t let go of how helpless he felt. His friends going missing, taken from him, a few were shot, wounded and now that they had a direct lead to Vanoss. He was still worried about the others.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Wildcat says, once again driving the second the light switched to green.

“We have to find them.”

“We will. It’ll take time, we don’t know where they all are,” he said, his voice solemn.

Delirious nodded, not letting the conversation go anywhere. He wasn’t sure if he wanted it too. A rising impatience would consume him. He looked out the window again, they passed houses, apartment complexes, streets, and people who had no idea what was going on. They shouldn’t know what was happening. It wasn’t like it mattered to their little lives that his friends were pulled apart in a matter of days.

Delirious shook his head, pressing the side of his head against the window and closed his eyes. He was tired, and sleep took him quick and he did not resist.

_He was falling from the sky, his heart racing in his chest, teeth gritted. He was ready, looking at the ground, fearless. He felt warmth surround him before he was pulled away from the concrete, away from death._

_“I got you.” A whisper in his ear._

“We got a pulse.” Panda’s voice cut through the dream and he blinked open his eyes. They were parked in an alley, the shade made the interior of the car look darker but he was sure it’s only been a few minutes.

Wildcat turned in his seat, brow arched at Panda. “No signal?”

“No. It’s a pulse, I can’t find a direct lead so I’m thinking maybe.. Fourzeroseven couldn’t send out a signal, so they sent a pulse out instead.”

A pulse. It ranges throughout the city in frequencies, it’s an old method they don’t usually use unless it’s for emergencies.

“How many?” Wildcat asked.

“Three,” Panda said, tapping on the computer. “It’s not getting clearer but if I have to guess, Murietta Heights.”

“Why would they be over there?” Delirious asked, looking at the map that Panda pulled up, a bright pulse illuminated the map. “Would they have something to send it out?”

Wildcat backed up the truck. “Scotty knows what’s happening and he isn’t an idiot.”

“What are you doing?” Panda asked, clutching the laptop and phone from sliding off his lap. “We’re supposed to be waiting for Lui’s call.”

“And we’ll get it, but I’m not going to leave Scotty and SilentDroidd with two injured by themselves in the middle of nowhere without some fucking help,” Wildcat said, turning the car around and driving out of the alley.

“No use fighting,” Delirious said to Panda who shrugged his shoulders.

“Yeah. I guess,” Panda passed him the radar. “Keep that in case Lui does eventually call. We can update him about what we’re about to do. This does push us back.”

“Vanoss will be fine,” Wildcat said. “If anything, they’ll keep him alive and probably come and take out the rest of us.”

Delirious frowned. “Why would they do that when they _had_ us?”

“Revenge for taking out their groups a few years back. They had us, most of us anyway, but they were waiting. Maybe for Lui’s group to re-enter the picture, and for the ones who were left at the warehouse.”

“They found us, they didn’t hesitate to try and kill us either. Then they took Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo..” Delirious said, raking his fingers through his hair.

Wildcat chuckled. “That’s the thing, Delirious, they didn’t kill any of us. I’m sure what they tried to do was get you guys off guard. What they didn’t expect was you.”

Delirious snorted, wondering if Wildcat was right. “I didn’t the find the rest.”

“You came for us though,” Wildcat said, “kept the others safe, probably knowing you wouldn’t live when you found me in the container.”

Delirious looked out the window again, watching the houses and people go by. “I took a risk, it turned out to be right.”

“Good thing too,” Wildcat said.

Delirious laid his head back. Wildcat was right, it was a good risk, driven with desperation and anger at the time, he did what he had to do. Even though he could’ve died. In the end, things changed, he found Wildcat and Terroriser, and the others. Things were once again piecing themselves back together.

What he hoped for was the ease that could calm his heart, the shaking limbs and the worry throbbing in his head.

They were getting close to Murietta Heights, a few more blocks. The phone in his hand buzzed, he looked down, brows pushed together as he answered it.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?” Lui asked.

Delirious glanced at Panda and Wildcat and sighed. “We got a pulse and currently heading to it. We think it’s Scotty and the others.”

Miniladd’s voice cut in. “Do you even have weapons?”

“No.”

“What the hell? Why are you going then? Are you guys trying to get yourselves killed?”

Wildcat reached his arm back and moved his fingers. Delirious passed him the phone and Wildcat took it off speaker.

“Wouldn’t you go if you got a small scrape of hope?” Wildcat slowed the truck next to the curve and indicated in the rearview mirror at Delirious and Panda to get out.

“Are you serious?” Delirious asked, reaching for the handle.

“Go look around and see if you can find Scotty.”

Delirious glared and pushed open the door, waiting for Panda to slide out with the laptop. It was warm, a little too warm out with a cool wind as he slammed the door and began walking down the street. The houses were a little run down, he noted a prostitute standing at the curve, her expression sour with a hand on her hip.

His leg was numb from the painkillers, it didn’t hurt as much, but there was a throbbing coming from it. Panda stopped beside him, trying to hold up the laptop.

“Pulse went out about a minute ago, but they’re somewhere around here.”

“Do we have a safe house here?” Delirious asked as they crossed the street and walked up the sidewalk.

“No. We did have a contact, but I’m not sure if she lives here anymore.”

“Looks like she still does.”

It was quiet, a little uncomfortable and the houses were a bit pushed in. Garbage was strewn all over the places, old cars that were taken apart, and rusted fences. Not a place Delirious would live, at least not when he had his own apartment downtown.

“Another pulse, this one’s smaller, akin to a signal,” Panda said, turning his head to the side as he stopped and placed the laptop on a fence, keeping it leveled,  he brought the map down to the surface and pulled in the area.

“Seventh house up ahead,” Panda said.

Delirious nodded. “Head back to Wildcat, I’ll deal with this.”

“What if something happens? What if it’s not them?” Panda asked, frowning.

“Then something happened. Report to Wildcat, if I’m not back in a few minutes, than think of the worst.” He patted Panda’s shoulder and started his ascend toward the house.


	15. spectre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious eases the tension of his struggle to survive. Everything begins to make sense with the subtle assurance of his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to forget to update or lose interest. That would ruin the flow, I'm sure I did in one of these chapters. My bad. :/ I do have some confessions about this story which I will address in the next and last chapter. :D Yes. One last chapter. Writing this one made me realize how close it really was to the end and I didn't want to stretch it. 
> 
> (Spectre - Alan Walker) - Music I listened to while writing this chapter.

Delirious knocked on the door of the seventh house Panda pointed out. It was dead quiet besides the rush of cars on the intersection where Wildcat was parked by. He was numb of feeling, there was no rush, no adrenaline, no fear that spiked in his mind that gave him any rational thought that this might actually end up as a trap. That once the door opened and a gun placed at his head where a bullet would enter his skull.

That would be it, he wasn’t thinking right. Maybe not since yesterday night, or maybe before that. All his energy that cared about his own well being was spent. He felt the rumble of laughter in his chest, it was enough to make him smile at death.

The door opened and to his surprise, a gun wasn’t shoved into his face, but a young girl. She looked like she was nineteen, maybe twenty, short brown hair, wearing a loose shirt and jeans, no socks.

Her brow arched, “You must be Jona—”

“Delirious?” He tilted his head to the side, past the girl to see Marcel in the hallway, followed by Scotty who had a hand on his shoulder until he saw his face.

“Holy shit,” Scotty said, slipping past Marcel who was holding onto the wall. “You’re alive.”

Delirious nodded, looking down at himself and back up at Scotty. “Yeah. Last I checked.”

“Friend?” the girl asked Scotty.

He looked at her and nodded. “Delirious is the _wildcard_.” She took the meaning and smiled, heading back down the hall past Marcel.

“When did you get here?”

“Six hours ago. I wasn’t sure where to take them after you left. Luckily no one seems to give a shit about people in this damned city, so we weren’t picked up on our way here.”

Looks like the only thing that would’ve either saved them from Jaeger locating them in a hospital or police station. “I have some stuff to fill you and the others in. Where’s Ohm and Droidd?”

“Sleeping,” said Marcel, “you should come in.”

Delirious nodded, stepping inside the narrow hall, clusters of their shoes were at the front and several coats were hung up in a small closet to his right. “I can’t be long. Wildcat and Panda might overreact.” Scotty and Marcel’s brows rose, their mouths parted. It was the reaction he expected, astonishment that sent a thrill through him. He smiled and for the first time since Lui, Nogla and Miniladd entered the fray, he meant it.

“Wildcat and Panda.. Where are they?” Marcel asked, stepping forward but he winced, hand going to his side.

Delirious’s smile faltered. “Down the street from here… are you alright?”

Scotty turned his body toward Marcel, tilting his head before returning his gaze at Delirious. “Lynn checked his wound earlier. It was infected, same with Ohmwrecker’s.”

Delirious nodded. He reached into his sweater and pulled out the painkillers Lui gave him. “Do you want some?”

Marcel gave him a lopsided grin. “Sure.” Delirious popped the bottle and passed him six. Three for himself and Ohmwrecker.

“Wildcat is the one you found when you left, right?” Scotty asked.

Delirious secured the bottle and placed it inside his sweater. Flickers of memories scattered before him, the rush of warm wind turning to ice, the earsplitting sound of gunfire and the adrenaline burning in his veins. His heart thumping away, wild with fear, blood and pain sank in his skin. How uncomfortable it felt, swimming in anxiety, time coiling in one.

“I held up a gun to one of their heads and they took me to a heavily guarded warehouse where I found our missing weapons. Lui will be pissed or maybe pleased once I tell him, since you know...I blew it up.” Delirious shrugged.

“You blew it up..? The building?” Marcel asked, grinning at Delirious. “You know.. You’re whole business and revenge mask was really getting to me.”

Delirious wasn’t too sure what Marcel meant by that. “Before I blew it up I noticed they were guarding a container, so I killed the sentries and found Wildcat cuffed inside. I set off the bombs and we were heading down the tracks with an empty gun.”

Scotty leaned against the wall, nodding slow. “I’m guessing it wasn’t a happy reunion.”

“He was happy, a little beaten up, but what do you except from Wildcat. A few of their men hitched a ride with us. I took them out and when the container slowed down...I got shot and they had Terroriser hanging off a bridge not too far from us.” He was a little bitter about that, and wasn’t sure when it’ll leave. The image stung too deep.

“Is he alive?” Scotty asked, brows furrowed, fingers curling. Marcel also went stiff, jaw tense.

Delirious nodded, easing their worry. “He’s alive, but he hasn’t woken up yet. Wildcat managed to get him down with the gun I stole from one of the men. He left us hidden in a tunnel to phone Panda and afterward, Panda hacked into a secure network, subtle enough that he was able to grab a signal from Lui, Nogla and Miniladd. They reentered the picture this morning”

“Holy shit...all that in a few hours,” Marcel said, “I’m impressed, Delirious. Where’s Lui, Nogla and Mini at?”

Delirious smiled, crossing his arms, “They were looking for a way into a construction building downtown before we left to find you guys holed up in this...whatever this place is.” Lynn walked by, narrowing her eyes at Delirious as she stepped into the kitchen.

“Why a construction building?” Scotty asked.

It was about time to tell them the good news. Delirious could scarcely believe it himself, it was more wishful thinking. A need to go back and enter the building, but without a plan and his friends, he’d end up dead in no time.

“Vanoss is inside a container on the top.” The look he received from both Marcel and Scotty made him laugh.

“You guys found him,” Marcel said, there was relief in his eyes, same with Scotty.

Maybe all this time they needed a bit of hope. A tether that held them all together, now they just had to go and grab him before these assholes decided to kill him.

Delirious bit his lower lip, nodding. “Cartoonz noticed a van driving around the building...we weren’t sure what it meant at the time.” The white van mocked them as they sank into confusion. He was there that entire time and they weren’t sure what it meant.

“So close,” Scotty said, “these things happen. Now we know where he is.”

“But we don’t know where Cartoonz, Bryce or Moo are. They’re still missing,” Delirious said, he was wracked with nerves since they were taken. The image always curling in his mind, twisting his thoughts, over and over he had to evaluate it, think of different possibilities that things could’ve changed in their favor. Yet he ended up sitting in a car, waiting for something to happen.

A knock on the door made them all go still. Delirious grabbed the knob before Marcel or Scotty could say something. He arched a brow at Miniladd holding up a pistol in his face, a bit reversed to his earlier image of a confrontation.

“Mini!” Marcel called, waving his hand.

Mini dropped his hand that held the gun, “Holy shit, Basically.” He pushed past Delirious and Scotty as he wrapped his arms around Marcel, muttering an apology when Marcel winced at how hard he was hugging him.

“How about let us know when you’re going to take your time,” Wildcat said, shaking his head at Delirious, tucking his gun into his jacket. “We thought you died.”

Nogla, Lui and Panda stood behind them, all three were holding weapons, now lowered to the ground.

“Sorry,” Delirious said, not exactly apologetic. “I updated them about what happened the other night.”

“You couldn’t have told them the bare minimum,” Wildcat muttered, walking past him into the house. “Where’s Ohmwrecker and SilentDroidd? Or did they die?”

“Nice to see you too, they’re in the other room,” Scotty said, leading him down the hall past Marcel and Miniladd.

“My bad, I’m glad you’re alive.”

Lui regarded Delirious, Panda stepping up beside him. “We’re not sure if it’s them,” he said, glancing at the computer in Panda’s hand. “But we might have found Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel.”

This day was getting better. “Where?” Delirious asked, his body was weak, and the weight of everything that was happening pushed him down, even while he smiled and spoke of dangers he strode into. He was still willing to know, to do whatever he had to.

“Other side of the city, some factories but we haven’t gotten the location yet. Looking on foot would take too long,” Lui informed him.

“I should have what we need soon,” Panda said, holding the laptop with one hand, it was difficult but he managed. Nogla stood beside him with a cord and when Panda made a gesture with his fingers, he hooked it into the side of the laptop, the other end was connected to the radar.

“They wouldn’t make it easy, they must know we’re stealing back our friends,” Delirious said, unsure of the complications that would come their way once they plan who was going in which direction. It was inevitable. Two groups would once again move away from each other, one team to save Vanoss, the other to save Cartoonz, Bryce and Moo Snuckel.

“If they can be thieves, so can we, but trust me, Delirious,” Lui met his gaze, “we’re a lot better than they are. Just because they merged into one group, doesn’t mean we can’t take them out all the same.”

“And like thieves,” Panda said, closing the laptop, he passed it to Nogla who swapped him for the phone. “We can steal their intel like they did to us.”

Delirious chuckled, low. He found it interesting that in all this time, he thought they were victims, even when they survived the ordeals they suffered. He was consumed with doubt, worry and fear that it clawed inside him. The words they spoke now were determined, a lethal sort of weapon they all were.

How could he ever doubt them and himself?


	16. the sky is grey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious and the others are planning the end to their torment. An end that will free him of what he feared from the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter could've been cut into 2-3 chapters, maybe even 4, but since I really just wanted to end this story, I decided to keep it all. :) This took several hours to write, a few days even since I'm not great with endings, not with romance, so don't expect much. I didn't want to exclude anyone in this story, so I tried my best to add enough.
> 
> Thanks for your support and such.

_It’s hot._ Delirious squinted at the bright sun and empty blue expanse. It was quiet and uncomfortable in the little neighborhood they were hiding in. Delirious looked over his shoulder at the open door where the others were crowding the halls of the small home of their contact, Lynn.

She analyzed the coordinates Panda received on his radar. Checking if it was the right area and if anything unusual was happening around the factories.

Earlier, Lui sorted them into teams: Wildcat, Miniladd, SilentDroidd and himself will head to the building downtown for a light recon before they breach it. Lui, Nogla, Ohmwrecker and Panda will secure Cartoonz, Moo Snuckel and Bryce.

Delirious limped in the crowded room, his leg wasn’t bothering him, thanks to the painkillers in his system.

“Keep them off us until we get there,” Lui told Lynn who was sitting in her computer chair, hands on her keyboard.

She looked over her shoulder at him, nodding. “I’ll block the signals and take out their cameras once you’re close. If I see anything, I’ll make sure you’re not spotted.”

“Good, we need all the help we can get if we’re going to end this today,” Lui said, turning around to face the others. He smiled. “I know none of us well screw this up, not with Vanoss’s life on the line, nor Cartoonz, Moo Snuckel and Bryce. We do this for them.”

Delirious hadn’t felt insignificant before, not since this all began when everything fell apart around him. Constantly running for his life and trying to keep them all alive. With his friends around him, guns loaded, fingers trigger happy, smiling at what was to come to their enemies. He wasn’t whole without them, and now that they were close to the remaining pieces. He realized that the view of the sky did make insignificant, that everyone he passed had no idea what was happening, that this was his life and his friends were parts of it.

He would do anything to feel significant again.

He, like the others, trudged out of the small house. He could hear Fourzeroseven talking with Lui and Basically as they walked down the street to the parked vehicles.

“I’m fine,” Basically gritted out.

“No, you’re not,” Fourzeroseven said, “I want Basically on getaway.”

“Are you fucking serious? Ohm gets to go on the rescue mission and I get to sit in the fucking car!” The others ahead chuckled at Basically’s annoyed tone.

“Ohm wasn’t shot in the stomach, you’re stitches could reopen if you’re in combat. I want you away from the fight as possible,” Fourzeroseven argued back.

“What are you, my mother?”

“I have to agree,” Lui cut in, earning him a groan, “Ohmwrecker won’t be the vanguard, he’ll have the rear and will be away from danger as possible. We can’t have this mission exploited if one of our members is severely injured.”

“Bryce is there,” Ohmwrecker said, and Delirious looked back to see him running his fingers through his dark hair, his mask falling over his face. “I have to save him.”

Everyone went silent, they knew the stakes was pulled taut. Any moment it could snap. Delirious looked away, his own desperation clawed in his chest. Subtle and breakable, it was rising to the top of his resistance. Would he let it out by the end of this? If something were to happen to any of them—to Vanoss. He couldn’t think of that right now. All that mattered was getting there and finding him.

“Fine,” Basically said, reluctantly.

“You can shoot whoever gets close to the car,” Fourzeroseven told him which did appease Basically, for now.

By the time everyone is in their separate cars with guns and ammo in two duffel bags. Enough to get through whatever is coming for them, they’re ready nonetheless. Even it if it feels almost like a suicide mission.

Wildcat hopped into the driver's seat while Miniladd sat in the passenger. Delirious tossed the bag in the back where Terrorizer was previously occupying it. They left him back at Lynn’s place, he’s safer there than with them.

SilentDroidd slammed the door the second Wildcat propelled the car down the street without any warning. Miniladd shot him a glare, but Wildcat ignored him and concentrated on his erratic driving. Delirious clenched his teeth, reaching for the bag that fell to the floor with a loud clank, he pulled it up on the seat and dragged the zipper all the way until the bag is left wide open. There were several handguns with clips of ammo inside.

“We might run out,” Delirious shoved the ammo into the gun and cocked it. SilentDroidd helped him with the ammo.

“That’s why we’re doing recon first,” Miniladd said, turning in his seat. “If they can grab Cartoonz, Moo Snuckel and Bryce, we’ll have a full unit. Cartoonz is on demolition and Bryce is one of our best snipers.”

“He’s wounded, like Basically,” SilentDroidd said, frowning.

“We need everyone on this,” Wildcat said, glancing at him through the rearview mirror as he slowed the truck to a red light. “Moo Snuckel and the others are the vanguard, but he’ll go in afterward once we clear the bottom half of the building.”

“What if they’re dead?” Delirious asked, not looking at either as he placed each loaded gun back into the bag. “Or tortured to the point they can’t do anything.”

“Then we’ll deal with it,” Wildcat said a little harshly. “For now, we wait for Lui’s call.”

Delirious sat back, head lolling against the window and he gripped one of the automatic handguns. Wildcat was right, they will deal with it if something bad happened to their comrades, for now, they were on their way to Vanoss.

Miniladd was playing with the phone, while music hummed from the radio. It was strangely odd, the way they were relaxed in the effort of not hurrying through traffic to their missing member. One of the best shooters in their groups, a leader who kept a smile on his lips and didn’t let the corruption of death haunt him.

What if he’s dead? It was an ill thought that itched in the back of his mind since Vanoss and the others were taken. It’s what kept him moving with the hope that they were alive, and if they weren’t, he’d hunt their killers down one by one and kill them all.

“Do you have the sniper?” Miniladd asked, pressing the phone to his ear and looking to Wildcat.

Wildcat nodded. “In the back.”

“Yeah…I’ll take the high ground, if we can find a good perch.” Miniladd lodged the phone against his ear and his shoulder as he leaned down to grasp something under his seat. “Are you almost there?”

Wildcat turned down a street and slowed next to a curve. He stopped the car and put it in park, taking out the key. He looked over his shoulder. “Try not to get shot, we don’t have vests for this mission.”

Delirious passed Wildcat a handgun. “We’ve been doing this for years.”

Miniladd chuckled, passing him an earpiece. “Since you’re already shot, don’t die.”

Delirious tucked the piece into his ear, the gun into the back of his pants and another inside his sweater. Wildcat, Miniladd and SilentDroidd were doing the same. Grabbing enough ammo they could carry. Miniladd hopped out of the truck and rounded to the back where he retrieved the sniper that was set inside a long black case.

He, SilentDroidd and Wildcat left the vehicle and the four of them were headed across the street. The building Vanoss was being kept in was several blocks down.

“We’re heading into the car lot,” Wildcat said into the earpiece.

Lui’s voice entered their ears. “We’re at the factory, scoping the area before heading in. Update me when you’re in position.”

“Will do,” Miniladd said, grinning at Wildcat, Delirious and SilentDroidd.

It was impossible to ignore the elation. He was ready to end this, to kill every last one of Jaeger’s revived team. Right now, all he had to think about was Vanoss and getting him away from here.

“I’ll get the sniper ready,” Miniladd said, raising the case at the both of them, his back to the staircase as he stepped back. Wildcat walked over to him and they kissed. Delirious and SilentDroidd turned away.

“No offense, but we’re on the clock,” Delirious said.

Miniladd chuckled. “Hey. You’ll have your time with Vanoss once you rescue the damsel-in-distress. For now, I have mine,” he pulled Wildcat back and kissed him once more.

Delirious grinned and said nothing. It was no secret, and sure he tried to hide it. He had no time to focus on his feelings when adrenaline and pain struck him at every corner during the past few days.

“Keep your eye out,” Wildcat said before signalling to Delirious and SilentDroidd as they headed through the car park to the other end. Miniladd went straight for the staircase with the case.

Wildcat narrowed his eyes at him, both moving at a faster pace down the sidewalk. “I know it’s bad time—”

“I’m not having this conversation with you,” Delirious said, looking back at him with an arched brow, before looking at SilentDroidd, “nor you.”

Wildcat grinned, shrugging his shoulders. “Hey. It’s been how long.. And you two have been—”

“Like I said—”

“Come on, Delirious, if Vanoss is alive, you might as well do something. End the whole friendship bullshit and get on with your lives. It’s time.”

Maybe his time was wasted in all that diversion. Hoping to keep their friendship alive, thinking maybe it was better off than what they’d have together in a more close space. They were better together, complimented each other, kept each other in check when one went over the rails. Without Vanoss, Delirious wasn’t sure if he could sustain his well being for long. He was tired, exhausted, sick with doubt and anger that it piled inside his head with difficult thoughts. Vanoss was a smiling, tricky bastard who knew what to do and where to hit, except he ran his fuse too quick. They fell off their own axis without one another keeping each other stable.

Denying what they could have seemed like an impossibility now. He wanted to save Vanoss and get him away. Right now, he needed clarity on the inevitable events that were going to transpire.

“Building across the street,” Wildcat told him before pushing a glass door open. “SilentDroidd, you’ll take the far left side.” He nodded and headed for the rendezvous point.

Delirious wrinkled his nose and headed across the street, past several pedestrians along the sidewalk where he caught sight of the building. It was in his view, completely norm where construction workers making rounds and calling out to one another.

He noticed a few hidden inside, without the good vantage point and experience of noticing suspicious figures. No one would see the men hidden inside, standing several feet apart, armed.

Delirious reached up for the earpiece. “Six men on the left, making my way to the right.”

“Civilians?” Miniladd asked.

“Ten workers on the bottom,” Wildcat said, “several on a few floors going up. Thins out a bit by the top.”

“Four guarding the entrance on this side,” SilentDroidd said.

Delirious raised his chin, brows furrowed. The sun was bright, blocking his view. He sighed and kept going, he was on the ground and it would make sense for him to stay there close by, in case something did happen.

He touched where the gun was at his back, it was not much of a comfort but a reminder that he’d be using these weapons. Finally he wasn’t unarmed, running around and panicking. He eased the plan into his head a few times, imagining each motion as thorough as he could. It’ll get messy, which in his case, he didn’t mind. There might be a few explosions, another thing he cared little for.

Delirious pressed the earpiece. “I’m in position.” He leaned against the wall in an alcove, arms crossed and eyes on the side of the building.

“Breaching the building,” Lui said, his voice tense before the line went silent.

“How long are we going to wait?” Miniladd asked.

“Until we have everyone here, the four of us won’t be able to do this quietly,” Wildcat said and Delirious snorted in response. They were quiet, waiting out the paranoia. He was sure an hour went by and he was tired of watching random people wander by.

He reached up and turned the earpiece on. “Basically, is everything alright?”

His line was filled with static before his voice cut through it. “Yeah.. lots of gunfire going on.”

“They didn’t make it back?” he asked, brows pushing together, a sick feeling overcoming him.

“A little busy on our end, Delirious. We’ll have something in the next ten minutes,” Basically said, then his line went dead.

Delirious glared at the cement before flitting his gaze toward the building. They were so close and he was itching to move, but he would endure it until they received the signal. For now, he counted men in dark suits whenever one appeared, each second that passed, each footfall. He blanked everything out until he reached inside his sweater for the gun, he felt the handle, gripping it firmly.

“They’re alive.”

Delirious sucked in a breath, his hand faltering and his stance shifted. “What?” he asked.

Basically’s voice was jovial on the other line, he was laughing with Fourzeroseven. “They’re alive. All of them.”

“Even Cartoonz?” Delirious asked, he braced a hand on the wall to keep himself upright, his adrenaline increased once more, heart racing in his chest. This was it, the truth of their plan, the beginning.

“Yeah, he’s alive,” Basically repeated.

Delirious leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and letting out a relieved breath. About a second after, he straightened. “Now that we have one half of our unit back together, can we infiltrate the building?”

“No greeting to your fellow comrades?” Basically asked, taken back.

Delirious clenched his teeth, he glanced down the street but there was nothing out of the ordinary. “We’ll have time once we rescue Vanoss from his cage.”

Lui’s voice cut in. “You’ll proceed in ten minutes. We’ll have your back once we’re there. Bryce and Basically will take their positions on the rooftop with Ohmwrecker and Fourzeroseven. The rest of us will head into the building, by that time, I’m hoping that you’ll have Vanoss out of the container, Delirious.”

Delirious tilted his head and looked at the top where he could spot several large shipping containers sitting near the edge of the building. Delirious grinned. “Yeah. I’ll have him.”

“Okay. Give us ten minutes, once it’s up, you’re free to move.” Lui’s voice went silent and Delirious let out a deep breath.

“You have eyes?” Wildcat asked, which made Delirious frown, but he soon realized he wasn’t talking to him.

“Yeah. Narrow, but I have a good view of the middle floors of the right side of the building,” Miniladd said, “I can see a few men on the top, some standing on the crane. With a good vantage point, I could snipe them.”

“Uhh.. guys, it’s an open line,” Delirious said.

“No shit, Delirious,” Wildcat muttered, “Mini, don’t snipe the guys on the top, not until they become a problem. If they find out where you are, it’ll only complicate things.”

Mini sighed. “Alright, fine, I’ll keep a good eye on them.”

Delirious listened to them banter and when his impatience thinned. “It’s a go,” Wildcat said, and Delirious didn’t need to be told twice as he left the alcove and headed across the street, ignoring the cars. The sun hit his back once he escaped the shade, he made sure to blend in with a crowd of people and when he closed into the entrance of the construction building, he slowed his pace.

“None of them can hack into our comms, right?” he asked, nervous of that last time they managed to track them to one of their safe houses.

“Nope, hurry up,” Miniladd said.

The workers weren’t paying attention and it was good enough for him to slip through unnoticed. He took out the gun inside his sweater, moving stealthily on the sides, melding with the shadows. He spotted Wildcat on the other end, sneaking up behind one of the men. He didn’t have enough time to react when Wildcat slammed his foot down below the back of his knee, legs crumpling as his mouth was covered by Wildcat’s hand. A gun placed in the back and the way the man’s body jerked and slumped meant that Wildcat had a suppressor on his gun.

He lowered him down to the ground, and moved to the next. A suppressor didn’t do much for noise when the area around them was filled with gunmen. A few heard the noise and went to investigate, which gave Delirious an opportunity to sneak up behind a few and shoot them in the back of the head.

Unfortunately, he did not have a suppressor. He cringed at the loud ear splitting noise. A few of the guns in the duffel bag weren’t equipped with any to his annoyance. He and Wildcat shot a few of the men before taking cover.

Wildcat glared, “What the fuck, Delirious?”

“Are you trying to get us killed before we rescue Vanoss?” SilentDroidd asked, who was now knelt beside him.

“This isn’t a stealth operation,” he remarked, twisting around to shoot the remaining two who were hiding behind metal beams. It was an easy shot, both in the head, their bodies falling hard to the ground.

“SilentDroidd, we’ll need someone on the bottom level, for now, in case we get reinforcement. Find a place to hide and report if any do arrive.”

He nodded and headed the way they came as Wildcat and Delirious strode straight for the elevator when their comms went off.

“We’re here, several blocks down,” Lui said.

“Hey, you bastard, couldn’t have saved me first before Vanoss!” Cartoonz said into the earpiece.

Delirious laughed as Wildcat pressed the elevator button. It moved quick up the building. “Sorry, Cartoonz.. I’ll make it up to you.”

“You better,” Cartoonz said, chuckling, “I’m glad you’re alive.”

Delirious looked toward the downtown area that was becoming smaller as they rose to the top of the building, slowing its ascend. Delirious was relieved that Cartoonz was safe, that he was completely alive and well, including the others. He wouldn’t know what he would do if they weren’t, how broken and torn he’d be.

He no longer had to worry about that. They were safe.

“Don’t do anything dangerous,” Delirious told Cartoonz, and possibly everyone else who could hear him on the line.

“Not like what you and Wildcat are doing,” Bryce chimed in, his voice weak and hoarse. Delirious was afraid of what happened to him, what they did to make him sound like that, but he was sure he’d hear the story later.

Delirious grinned at Wildcat who cocked his gun. “We don’t do stealth.” He turned off the comm as the elevator came to a stop. They were almost there, almost to Vanoss.

“The elevator is on the other side,” was all Wildcat said when a woman and man appeared before them, both holding guns in their hand, followed by a man wearing a heavy bulletproof vest, holding a rifle. It didn’t stop them from shooting, not when they heard a loud whistle cutting through the air, Mini’s bullet slammed into one of the gunmen.

“Shit,” Wildcat grunted, barely stumbling, he raised his gun and shot a man in dark armour, wearing a helmet that did less protection as his bullet pierced through it. His body falling back and violently hitting the cement floor, rifle clattering to the floor.

A few more of Miniladd’s bullets cut through the air, both Delirious and Wildcat heard bodies falling to the ground, several weren’t lucky enough to die instantly as they shot each one while heading for the second elevator.

“We’re here,” Nogla’s voice was loud enough over the ringing in their ears.

“Several reinforcements arrived,” SilentDroidd said.

“Most of Jaeger’s men are on the top,” Lui told them, “be careful.”

Delirious rolled his shoulders, and shoved another clip into the gun as the elevator came to a stop at the top of the building. To his disapproval of Lui’s words, several guns would pointed directly at them. A tall man stood in the back, standing tall with a sneer on his face.

“H2o Delirious and Wildcat, infamous in your direct assault, come here or we’ll have you shot and your bodies will be thrown over the edge where your friends will find you.” He chuckled as he turned his back and they were forced to walk, their guns taken from their hands as they came into the opening.

Delirious glanced to his right, he noticed several containers, all with chains on the doors. He mentally cursed before turning his attention back to the man, only to notice a woman sitting on several crates, holding a large knife in her hand. Her gaze flitted up, dark and murderous.

“Crows,” the man said.

Wildcat arched a brow. “What?”

“Was my group before yours massacred all of them, excluding me and few others.”

The girl stood, walking toward them, from what Delirious could see, she was wearing a bulletproof vest, layered by a thick jacket and some holsters holding guns. She glared coldly at Delirious. “Mine was once called The Rain Company.”

Wildcat snorted, “Good thing we killed them all, bad names for mercenary groups, Jaeger is a lot better, it’s more—” One of the men slammed the butt of his gun into Wildcat’s stomach, his knees buckled as he choked on a ragged gasp, “—ambiguous.”

Delirious gritted his teeth, not daring to move to his friend. They wanted him to react, and he wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction of making him choke up his stomach acid. “Why not kill us?” It probably wasn’t a good question to start off with, but he had to get somewhere.

Wildcat shook his head, arms covering his stomach. He disagreed with his method, but most did anyway.

“We were going too,” the man stepped forward, he was muscled and didn’t seem as pissed as the woman, he was more at ease. Fully in control of what was happening around him, all guns pointed at two men, who wouldn’t be comfortable in their position.

What the man didn’t know was that Delirious was in this situation more times than he can count. He just hoped this time he didn’t get himself and Wildcat killed for his foolishness to bargain with their lives and time.

“But I wanted you,” the woman said, she clenched her hand around the handle of her knife, stepping forward, her glare had deepened into complete revulsion.

“You’re not my.. Type,” Delirious said, attempting a smile that didn’t end up killing them.

“And you ain’t mine,” she said, grazing the tip of the knife against his chin, “you killed my leader, you of all people.” She looked at his appearance, sneering before taking a step back.

“I.. killed your leader? Me?” Delirious asked, wracking his brain but he had no memory of such an event.

“I was there when you slit open his throat, not even bothering to hesitate, to hear his plea. A man like you took such pleasure in his death that your group murdered every member,” she spat, and Delirious was sure she was about to stab him at any moment. “You and your friends are fucking bastards, no ounce of mercy.”

“Mercy?” Wildcat asked, voice groggy, “you and your fucking team faked a transmission from our contacts and ambushed us in the middle of the city. What the fuck kind of shit was that?”

“A strategic one,” the man said, sneering at Wildcat. “You’re member, Lui, wasn’t amongst the four we kidnapped. We hoped he was there, we would’ve killed him right away without hesitation.” This made Delirious glare at them, sparking a pain in his chest, anger welled up. He couldn’t do anything, not now when their situation was hanging by a thread. “He killed my leader, point blank, a cold hearted maneuver before moving on as if his life meant nothing. We wanted to grab all of you, one by one, to see him break under the deaths we wrought.”

“Except,” the girl cut in, glaring at Delirious, “you kept screwing up our plan. We tried killing you, making sure you knew what we done to your friends, we hoped that in some way you’d come rushing to us, make it easy to kill you.”

Delirious quirked a smile, “You couldn’t catch me, could you? Not with a gun, explosions, your wiretapping, kidnapping my friends. You stole them from me, you just didn’t think maybe I would steal them back.”

The woman shook her head, “Enough with this bullshit, I can’t stand his stupid fucking face.” She walked over to Delirious, but something stopped her from attacking him, a choking sound emitted from her throat, something had sliced past Delirious’s head. Blood slid from the hole in her forehead. Her body slumped into him and his hand went down for the knife.

Then the explosions went off below them, rumbling as everyone began to react. Delirious crouched, twisting around to see Wildcat with his own gun, shooting at the gunmen behind them. “Don’t just look at me, Delirious!”

He moved to the side with the knife in his hand, rolling behind a jersey barrier. He noticed the men on the crane were falling with the rhythm of bullets slashing through the air. His heart pounded in his chest, heavy and strained. He looked to the containers and back at the man, he had fallen from one of the bullets, but was still alive.

Delirious moved on instinct through the barrage, rushing past several men as he cut into them with the knife. He slid down, slamming his fist into the man’s head before reaching for the set of keys inside his jacket.

The man grasped his arm, dragging him back and through the blood in his nose, he said, “Tell me something, are you sure you’re the hero of this story?”

Delirious stopped for a split second, his heart racing in his chest, and all he could think of was that he was so close to Vanoss, saving him is all that mattered, he was the last of their group that went missing. The one whom he regretted the most, that if he died, than it would be his fault for not revealing what he felt for him.

“I don’t care if I’m the villain of yours,” Delirious said, wrenching the man’s hand from his arm, “I’m the hero in my friend’s eyes.” He turned and ran to the containers, fumbling with the keys as he heard Wildcat yelling in the earpiece at Lui.

“I’m in the air,” Lui said, laughing.

Delirious turned his gaze and grinned at Lui who was in the helicopter with Nogla and Moo Snuckel. He held a sniper in his hand, Nogla shooting at the men with Moo Snuckel piloting.

“Hurry up, Delirious, cops are arriving,” Cartoonz called, another set of explosions went off.

Bullets sprayed behind him, the grunts of dying men were lost with the beat of his heart in his ears and the voices of his friends colliding together. He managed to unlock one of the doors to the container. Wrenching the chain and threw it to the ground as he pushed the door, ignoring the sliding metal. He breathed ragged, hands shaking and when he looked inside, he was elated to see Vanoss.

“Finally,” his partner in crime said, bruises layered the side of his face, dried blood in his hair, his lip was split. Arms raised where the chains made welts into his wrists. “Took your time, Delirious.”

He chuckled, soft and relieved. “You’re alive…” He took a step forward, ready to unlock Vanoss from his restraints when he was shoved to the ground, a man crawled ontop, gritted bloody teeth.

“Delirious,” Vanoss yelled, struggling with his restraints as Delirious fought the man who was heavier than he was.

“You’ll die here, you bastard, all of you will die for what you’ve done,” he screamed, trying to pull the knife from Delirious’s hand, but Delirious yelled as he shoved the knife up into his chest, his body stuttering with pain. He pushed him off and twisted around before the man could rise. Delirious dragging the knife from his body, gripping the handle with both hands and stabbed him over and over, blood sputtering out. The thrill and exertion he felt went into the knife he held, all his pain and anger cutting into the man’s dead body, the blood wept with his own angry cries.

“Jonathan!” He heard the voice, slowing his pace and loosening his grip on the knife, he swallowed his spit and blinked his eyes, tears were already streaking down his face. He let out a ragged breath before turning toward Vanoss who was still cuffed to the wall.

His eyes wide, breathing hard. “Jonathan,” he said, almost a whimper leaving his lips, “it’s okay...it’s okay.. Jonathan..”

Delirious sniffled, breathing hard, he reached for the keys and rose on shaky legs, barely stumbling toward Vanoss before falling back to his knees. He bit his lower lip, apologizing quietly as he unlocked Vanoss’s cuffs and moved back.

Vanoss, however, did not care for the blood as he reached for Delirious, hugging him tightly to his chest. “You’re here, and everything is okay. It’s okay.”

It wasn’t until he felt Vanoss’s warmth, the reality that he was alive. Delirious closed his eyes and realized how tired he felt since this all began. He could sleep here, with him, of course there was the problem of gunfire still going off and the static in his ear where several of his comrades were talking at once.

“We have to go, you’re not safe yet,” Delirious said, dragging himself out of Vanoss’s embrace and taking his hand. They rose to their feet and moved to the edge of the container door, Vanoss took the front and waved at Wildcat.

“We have Vanoss,” Wildcat said into the comm, the others cheered in unison.

“What’s that noise?” Vanoss asked, looking at Delirious.

He shook his head, squeezing Vanoss’s hand. “A bunch of idiots yelling in my ear.”

“Choppers here,” Wildcat yelled, running over bodies toward the chopper where he jumped the gap, Nogla grabbed his arm and pulled him on.

“Come on,” he yelled for Delirious and Vanoss.

“Shit,” Delirious yelled, dragging Vanoss back as two men appeared on the other side where they began shooting. He pressed the ear piece, “We’re going to need another way off this fucking building.”

“I saw a parachute across from where you and Vanoss are,” Wildcat said in his ear, wind whistling in the background. Vanoss knelt down, wrenching a gun from one of the many holsters of the dead man Delirious gutted.

“Full clip,” Vanoss remarked, grinning at Delirious, he turned his body, took aim and pulled the trigger. He shot the two men and they both eased out of the container, the chopper was nowhere in sight, explosions gone and the bodies lay scattered along the concrete.

“Come on, the police are here,” Miniladd said through the comm.

“I didn’t just wake up for you assholes to die on me,” Terrorizer’s voice cut through, his throat ragged, but there was some of that sarcasm they all enjoyed.

“Holy fuck, you’re alive,” Miniladd said, the others went on, and through the chaos, Vanoss grabbed Delirious’s hand.

“More are coming,” he dragged him to the other side, he turned his body, steadying his grip on the gun as he opened fired on a few of Jaeger’s remaining mercs who left the elevator.

They took cover behind a jersey barrier where they found the lone parachute on one of the dead men. Vanoss tore it off and strapped it around his waist and arms, he looked up at Delirious, reaching for him.

“Are you serious?” he asked, incredulous.

“Are you?” Vanoss shot back, “you really want to stay with them or come with me?” Delirious clenched his teeth and let Vanoss strap the holster around his waist. “I know what I’m doing,” he said into Delirious’s ear, sliding the gun into his hand. Then they jumped off the building, falling as the wind shoved their hair back. Delirious’s heart went into his throat, butterflies flapping wildly in his stomach, then they were lurched up by the parachute with Vanoss keeping hold and making sure they ended up down the street.

“We need someone to pick us up,” Delirious said, breathless into the comm.

“We’re on our way,” Basically said.

The blue and red lights of police cars went by, followed by firefighters and an ambulance. A lot of pedestrians were watching in awe, some were confused, while others went on with their mundane lives.

Delirious stumbled once they made it to the ground, taking Vanoss with him as the parachute covered their bodies. Vanoss chuckled, unstrapping Delirious and wrenching the parachute off of them. The street was blocked off and from where they landed, there were barely many people close by.

Delirious laid on his back, spread out as he stared at the sky, the blue fading into a dim grey.

“Why the fuck is it raining?” he asked, quiet.

Vanoss looked up, the rain was light. “I don’t know. It’s the weather.”

“I’m sorry,” Delirious said, pushing himself up.

“For what?” Vanoss grinned at him, bruises and a split lip, blood staining his shirt, yet there was that smiling trickster.

“Not coming for you sooner and rejecting what I felt for you at the beginning. I would have hated myself if I found you dead inside that container, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”

Vanoss looked at him, frowning. “I know what you would’ve done, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Delirious thought of what that man had said, what they all said, why they did it in the first place. It was for revenge of an operation they did years ago, yet the victims barely scratched the surface of his memory. Would something like this happen again because of their apathy?

“Do you think.. We’re villains? Someone to hate and kill..” Delirious asked him as Vanoss pulled the parachute into a ball.

“Jared spoke his shit to you, didn’t he?”

“Jared?”

“The man you killed before you uncuffed me,” Vanoss said, rubbing his wrists where the welts were, “he talked shit to me too. Said things that I never really thought of. Maybe we are, in their eyes, but what about ours? Five years ago we went on a mission to kill off a rogue mercenary group that were exploiting our smuggling operatives, so Lui called us in, told us to kill them all and leave only a few. His mistake, possibly.”

“And the other group?” Delirious asked, wondering how Vanoss remembered.

He shrugged. “I think this was one of those types of groups who try to move into a our territory when they shouldn’t. We killed them off, left a few, figured the rats would find a new home.”

“We’re villains of some kind,” Delirious said, they heard a car honking and looked behind them to see Fourzeroseven and Basically a block down behind a police barrier. Waving their hands out of their windows.

Vanoss rose, offering his to Delirious who took it and stood. Almost falling until Vanoss grasped his arm and kept him up. “In the eyes of others we are, but from my perspective, you are no villain. You’re Jonathan, H2o Delirious, my partner and best friend, and you’re also my hero.”

He leaned up and kissed him, which in turn, Delirious did not reject, he did not fear it as he once did before when he was afraid of what was to come afterward. In all the days of trailing through pain and anguish, he wouldn’t let something so pure as Vanoss go.

They walked down the road, hand in hand, in the rain, toward the car where they slipped into the back and leaned against each other from the exhaustion of the day they thought it would end. An end to lives they thought they wasted, a love that kindled warm now flared bright between them both.

“Don’t leave,” he muttered before sleep took him.

Vanoss twined their hands as the rain fell heavy against the window. “I’m not going anywhere.” He took the earpiece out of Delirious’s ear and dropped it to the floor, running his fingers in his damp dark hair, he held him close.  
There would be answers and embraces from friends, and days would go on as they will it, but now that it ended. Another part of their lives will began once more, and Delirious would not waste it on fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm real tired, didn't sleep while writing this. If there's any inconsistencies or grammar mistakes, I apologize, I was mostly winging it. I wanted to say that I had no idea where this story was going from the start, I had a vague idea, but writing it gave me more ideas until I figured out the ending. :/ So if there's anything inconsistent, just consider it a rough draft.  
> There's another story I have, it's called - The City Sleeps, if you want to check that out. It has a different plot to it and switches POV's between Vanoss and Delirious.  
> Thanks for enjoying this story and your support. :D


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